It’s time to look beyond the housing targets

The pressing challenge of delivering sufficient housing has received limited coverage in recent months as headlines continue to be dominated by Brexit, writes Waheed Nazir, corporate director, economy, at Birmingham City Council. While all the political attention has been focused on our future relationship with the EU, many potentially more pressing matters have seemingly fallen by the wayside. The delivery of transport and energy infrastructure, jobs and housing are all essential contributors to a successful economy and, if left unaddressed, will have a profound and long-term impact on the fortunes of the country. Addressing these strategic issues is nothing new, but they still remain relatively unfashionable, considering their overall importance. Our specific national challenge around providing sufficient homes has perhaps been the longest-standing issue. Countless targets have been set, various national bodies established and reviews commissioned to address how we deliver more homes. The planning system has been changed and changed again, driven by a desire to speed up decision making and delivery. Some recent statistics have provided some positive news, but construction is a cyclical activity and with the current economic uncertainty there is naturally some reticence to build and buy. How to address this particular issue has been covered many times before, but from my experience a healthy balance of providers – including the public sector – is essential, alongside the right vision and leadership. However, the focus on numbers does unfortunately deflect from the more pressing issue, which is the provision of the right homes, in the right location and with the right infrastructure. The importance of placemaking and community is more often than not given scant regard, let alone planned for strategically. Seeking any opportunity that arises to provide extra homes on the surface appears a sound approach when the numbers required are so large. The problem is just building housing on its own doesn’t make for a successful living environment or a long-term successful solution to the issue. There are plenty of examples the world over of large-scale housing initiatives focusing on numbers rather than communities and placemaking. A strategic approach to delivering at scale is key. This should be the focus of our efforts, be it through city centre living or urban extensions. We shouldn’t be afraid to take stock every now and then and assess whether the current course is the right one. In Birmingham we have been seeing an emphasis on housing density raise our rate of delivery and ensure we meet our annual targets. More than 14,000 homes have been built since 2011. The number is important but so is the quality of the place and how we plan for it – be it a major urban extension in the green belt, an athlete’s village for the Commonwealth Games or city centre living. In each case, we have focused our overall target on delivering a place and ensuring the infrastructure is there to meet the growing population. The Langley Urban Extension is a case in point where the 6,000 new homes figure wasn’t driven by the desire to meet numbers or get a plan through the system but by the need to ensure the scale of housing could secure the infrastructure and deliver a major community with quality of place to match. This approach was a significant challenge politically but one that was necessary to ensure we planned for the growth of our population appropriately. Alongside expanding urban areas, we also need to be make better use of brownfield land. City centre living will continue to play a central role in providing housing numbers. For it to be successful and sustainable, we also need to ensure it is supported by infrastructure and quality of place. In Birmingham’s case we are planning more than 15,000 new homes in the city centre. Major schemes such as Birmingham Smithfield will provide more than 2,000 of these. Again, the number is no coincidence. Providing a critical mass to create a new neighbourhood and attract infrastructure to make a successful place was the driver. Integrated public transport, open space and community facilities are essential, alongside a mix of tenure and typology of housing. We will be launching two further major city centre housing-led initiatives in 2019, which will be about shaping places, delivering infrastructure and improving the environment for existing residents. Ultimately we need to ensure things are delivered, but not blindly to meet targets. Instead we need to focus on the long-term outcome, emphasising quality of place, community and sustainability. We do have the tools; it won’t require a new policy regime or task force, it just requires strong leadership and clear strategic vision.