According to Housing Minister Kris Hopkins over 430 sites have been sold across the country and he said that this shows that the government had delivered on its promise to release thousands of acres of previously developed land and property under the public sector land programme.
He called on house builders and developers to get on and use the land to build more homes and explained how property specialists have been working with Whitehall departments that have surplus land, challenging them to release as much as they can to build new homes.
The government aims to release enough land for 100,000 homes by 2015, with over two thirds of the programme completed and Hopkins also said that house building is now at the highest level since 2007.
He added that even more public land should be released to maintain momentum, and urged councils to follow the lead set by central government by making their unused land available for development.
Since January 2014 a new Right to Contest has enabled the public to challenge the government about land and property they feel could be put to better use, and ask for it to be sold.
A new Rightmove style search engine will be launched for all government property. Covering real estate from motorway lay bys to vacant airfields, it will make it possible to search the government’s property portfolio by town and postcode, with maps showing the extent of the estate.
The public can also challenge councils to release land and property, under the Right to Reclaim Land, and ministers are encouraging the public to consider if there are sites in their area that they could put to better use.
Independent estimates suggest that the public sector holds up to 40% of land suitable for development and around 27% of brown field land that is appropriate for new housing.
‘The government is a major land holder and hard working tax payers expect us to use these assets effectively. That’s why we have already delivered on our promise to release thousands of acres of brown field land, the same number of homes as are in the whole of Blackpool, to protect the greenbelt and build new homes where they are needed,’ said Hopkins.
‘We’re making it easier for the public to see what land we own, and challenge us if they think they could use it better. Councils should now follow our lead, and consider if their land and property could be sold and used for delivering new homes, jobs and businesses in their communities,’ he explained.
The government’s national housing agency, the Homes and Communities Agency, has been helping departments to sell their land and encourage new development on these sites. Examples include the Princess Marina Hospital in Upton, Northampton. This former 1950s hospital and campus has been sold to Persimmon Homes for 550 homes plus 4,000 square metres of commercial space. The first homes are now being marketed and are available under the Help to Buy scheme.
Booth Hall Hospital in Salford closed in 2009 following the opening of the new Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital in Manchester and the first phase for 150 homes has just been launched with a choice of two, three and four bedroom new homes in a range of mews, semi detached, town house and detached designs, many available under Help to Buy.
In Aldershot, Hampshire, a large brown field site, formerly owned by the military, will include 150 hectares of development land and over 100 hectares of green open space for a proposed new community, called Wellesley. It will include 3,850 new homes, with over a third affordable.
Earlier this year the government also launched the strategic land review to deliver at least £5 billion land and property disposals between 2015 and 2020. The review will identify where further public sector land can be disposed of to support housing and economic growth. This exercise will report for the Budget 2014 next month.
