The Other Side of the Story - Get off our backs! At the recent Planning Strategy hearings Developers quickly became public enemy number 1 with demands for even higher housing targets, to be built on greenbelt and a refusal to build on brownfield sites in Leeds. However, this article (dated 24th October 2013) is interesting, in that gives the developers reasons for saying only greenbelt in Leeds golden triangle is viable. It seems to suggest that they are being used as cash cows for infrastructure and other Council projects - and thus if they are putting up the money, they want a major say !! A quote: We are not short of offices or shops in our great capital, but we are very short of housing. Why? When I explain to overseas visitors what happens if you want to build homes in London, they can scarcely believe it. This is what I tell them: 1) You are liable to pay a Community Infrastructure Levy 2) You are liable to pay the mayor’s Crossrail levy 3) You have to pay for, or deliver, Section 106 planning gain requirements 4) You may also have to contribute to the local planning authority’s current pet project 5) You will have to provide up to 40 per cent of your project as affordable (implying that the other 60 per cent is unaffordable) 6) Having paid through the nose for your site, and waited twice as much time as should be necessary to get planning permission, you may finally dig a trench. Imagine if bakers were treated in this way, with levies to provide power stations, and a requirement to provide affordable loaves to be sold at a loss. In no time at all there would be a bread shortage, just as there is a housing shortage. Full article in Architects Journal here architectsjournal.co.uk/comment/get-off-our-backs/8654722.article
Posted on: Sun, 03 Nov 2013 14:16:10 +0000
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