These housing enterprise zones could operate by local authorities entering into a joint venture to help make land – either public land or areas bought up through enhanced compulsory purchase powers – easily available to developers. Failure to enter into an agreement on these terms would lead to exclusion and perhaps even financial penalties for those developers unable to deliver new housing.
Housing enterprise zones could also come with simplified planning obligations to provide a greater degree of market certainty, for example through the use of local development orders. There could be an employment and skills framework for these areas to maximise work and training opportunities for residents within them.
The zones should be used to provide long-term commitment and stability to development, with VAT exemptions and safeguarded revenue streams linked to the retail price index. Overall, the zones would reduce costs and share the risk for both private and social sector developers.
Housing enterprise zones would provide the new homes we need to tackle our housing crisis and, by boosting the construction sector, act as a major stimulant of economic growth.
The original enterprise zones experiment succeeded where latent demand was satisfied, and a raft or package of complementary measures were introduced to a specific area. Together they created a market and, in turn, successful development.
We know there is overwhelming demand for housing. Instead of new initiatives, can we simply not learn from the successes of the past?