Planning policy should play its part in ending homelessness

Sarah Rowe, Senior Policy Officer

27.09.2024

Let's take this opportunity to get the detail right when the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is reformed. 

After years in which the number of new social rent homes built in England has been in the doldrums, it was incredibly welcome to hear the new Secretary of State set out her stall for this Autumn’s spending review. Angela Rayner used a Labour Party Conference panel event to highlight that a major package for social housebuilding is key to delivering on the Government’s ‘moral mission’, expressing her hope that the spending review will include funding to deliver more ‘desperately needed’ social housing.

Social and affordable house-building

Let’s hope that the Chancellor enables Government to make good on this moral mission. It is clear that if there is to be any chance of achieving the promised generational shift in the delivery of social and affordable house-building, this must be backed by a more generous Affordable Housing Programme focussed on social rent as well as reform of the planning system.

One without the other will not be enough. And both will be essential to underpin the Government’s commitment to get the country back on track to ending homelessness. Sustained growth in the delivery of social rent housing would provide the foundation upon which a national strategy to end homelessness can be built. A rapid increase in supply will enable Councils to begin to reduce reliance on costly emergency and temporary accommodation that causes such damage to people’s lives. It will also provide the foundation for a preventative approach that stops people becoming homeless in the first place.

The National Planning Policy Framework

But while Government’s intent to reform planning is clear, we think Ministers need to look again at the detail of proposed revisions to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) to set a clear expectation that the construction of new social rented homes is prioritised and that the needs of people experiencing homelessness are addressed by local needs assessments.

There is much to welcome in the proposed reforms including the broad intent to ensure the planning system delivers social rented housing, the restoration of mandatory overall housing targets and the commitment to require a minimum of 50% affordable housing on Green Belt land. But further amendments are needed to ensure that the Manifesto promise to prioritise the delivery of social housing is matched by the policy detail.

Crisis response to the Government planning consultation

In our response to the Government consultation, our main asks are:

• Require that separate targets are set for social rented and other forms of affordable housing, and that when local authorities determine the mix of affordable housing requirements they prioritise delivery of social rented housing to meet locally identified needs.
• Consider the case for establishing a national minimum target for social rented housing, for example at 20% of all housing on major development. We’ve suggested that Government reviews the potential impact of such a measure across different housing markets, and considers introducing a national target to signal the importance of social rented housing delivery to meet local housing need.
• Tighten the definition of affordable housing to make clear the distinction between social rented and other forms of affordable housing – reintroducing the term ‘intermediate housing’ to describe homes targeted at median earners and to distinguish this from social rented housing for people on the lowest earnings.
• Crisis welcomes the proposal to set a clear expectation in the NPPF that local planning authorities assess the requirement for social rented housing. But this needs to go further, so that when assessing local needs, authorities are expressly required to consider the requirements of people experiencing all forms of homelessness and those on housing registers, wider indicators of housing need such as overcrowding, the need for housing with support including purpose built supported housing, and the specific requirement of rural communities.

Ensuring housing delivery through the planning system fully reflects local need for social rented housing will be critical to the success of the planned cross Government strategy to get the country on track to ending homelessness. As well as committing more funding to social rent housing in the upcoming budget, we ask Government to look again at the detail of its planning policy reforms. Let’s not miss this vital opportunity to ensure that planning reforms support the commitment to ending homelessness.