The South East Plan
17/07/06
The South East Plan, also known as the Regional Spacial Strategy, provides a framework for the region for the next twenty years, to 2026. It brings together policies and other programmes that influence the nature of places and how they function. It includes those governing health, social issues, the economy, culture, skills and the environment. It also directly influences the number of much-needed affordable homes which will be built in the South East.
The Plan was submitted to the then Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on the 31 March 2006 and simultaneously issued for a three month consultation, which ended on 23 June. The CIH South East Branch joined the National Housing Federation at its free consultation event held on 9 June at Easthampstead Park in Bracknell. Peter Shadbolt, Housing Policy Lead at the Planning and Countryside Service, and Richard Bate, Partner at Green Balance Planning and Environment Services, led our discussions on the content of the South East Plan. We also looked at how we can and should be meeting future needs.
From this event, a joint statement from the National Housing Federation, the CIH South East Branch and Shelter has been issued in response to the South East Plan consultation.
We welcomed the Regional Assembly's desire to:
- meet an element of the backlog of housing need
- create a step change in the provision of affordable housing
- continue increasing average densities, maintain a reasonable brownfield target, and make the best use of land available, and
- improve the quality of design.
But:
- do not feel that the overall rate of housing provision is sufficient to meet current and future need
- are concerned that not all of the recognised backlog of housing need has been included in the provisions of the South East Plan
- believe that the EcoHomes standards with added water efficiency measures, which all new affordable homes are built to, should be a requirement of all new homes built in the South East, including those built by private developers.
We also felt that the Regional Assembly must:
- ensure that there is a clear structure in place for local authorities to come to conclusions about their individual affordable housing targets, whether this is determined regionally, sub-regionally or locally
- implement better monitoring of affordable housing provision.