MIND THE GAP | Place North campaign wins out but govt must go further

Those who joined our six-month campaign to address the North’s viability crisis will have had a close eye on the spending review and most will agree we are better equipped today to overcome the barriers to growth than we were yesterday.

However, questions remain about whether the government has truly grasped the scale of the viability challenge facing the industry.

The chancellor’s pro-development spending review has been warmly received by the property sector and set out several steps to speed up much-needed development.

• An improved long-term affordable housing programme will make £3.9bn a year available to housing associations and local authorities to deliver discounted properties

• Homes England has been given just shy of £5bn of financial firepower to unlock sites across the country between now and 2030

• The chancellor has promised to overhaul the green book methodology – the treasury’s way of weighing up value for money when considering investment – to ensure the regions do not miss out on potentially transformative projects.
• Read more about the government’s 2025 spending review

Place North’s Mind the Gap campaign gathered signatures from across property’s public and private sectors in the fight to overcome viability constraints, cited by you as the number one barrier to development.

Can Rachel Reeves’ spending review get UK development moving? Credit: Kirsty O’Connor/Treasury via Flickr

The campaign, carried out in partnership with Cavendish and Lichfields, provided a voice for the North, an area of marginal viability and pushed for intervention to unlock stalled sites capable of accommodating thousands of homes.

Kevin Whitmore, director at Cavendish, said: “The announcements on new funding for housebuilding today as part of the spending review could be game changing for the North.

“The Mind the Gap campaign has been clear that without extra government support we simply won’t be able to deliver the 1.5m new homes that the Prime Minister has pledged.”

He added: “It appears that the chancellor has listened and has allocated billions of extra money to unlock new homes in the North.

“The extra money combined with reforms to the Treasury’s Green Book could see currently unviable sites unlocked for development. The onus is now on the industry to work with local authorities and other public sector partners to move quickly and deliver.”

Despite the positive reception of the spending review, it is still unclear whether the government grasps the scale of the viability issue – particularly in relation to redeveloping brownfield sites for housing.

Many of yesterday’s announcements will help developers but the 132-page spending review paper makes no mention of the words “brownfield” or “viability”, suggesting the government has failed to get to the heart of the issues highlighted by our campaign.

Dino Moutopoulos, managing partner at Place North, said: “The early indications from the spending review look like Homes England will be funded in a much more robust manner in order to deliver the 1.5m homes the government wants.

“I am delighted that the Place North Mind the Gap campaign has played a part in creating a focus on the issue of viability for developers.

“The Mind the Gap campaign was conceived on the back of a fantastic Place North Question Time event. After six months of campaigning, it’s very pleasing to see a positive outcome from the spending review.”

He concluded: “Thank you to Cavendish and Lichfields for their support with this campaign. I hope this marks a positive new beginning for development and home building across the North.”