The government&rsquo;s announcement that increases in social housing rents will return to CPI plus 1% for a period of five years, after the current period of rent cuts ends in March 2020, is undoubtedly welcome.&nbsp;&nbsp;<br /><br />However, I think it falls short of government&rsquo;s claims &ldquo;to create a stable financial environment by setting a long term rent deal for Councils and Housing Associations in England&rdquo;.&nbsp;&nbsp;<p>We need to remember that by the time this new regime is introduced, Registered Providers will have experienced four years of 1% rent cuts from April 2016.&nbsp; This means they have also foregone inflationary increases in those years so the actual loss is likely to have been closer to 3% or 4% per year.&nbsp; In fact following the recent release of the September CPI statistics, the difference at rent review in April next year is closer to 5%.&nbsp;The reasons for that policy are well understood and revolve around the reduction in housing benefit as well as encouraging operating efficiency; and the policy has undoubtedly done both.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><br />But, a return to CPI plus 1% for five years is going to do little more than restore RP&rsquo;s rent levels to where they were before the cuts were introduced.&nbsp; And five years does not amount to long term stability for businesses relying extensively on private finance and building social assets for the long term when both their business plans and financing arrangements are generally over 30 years.&nbsp;&nbsp;<br /><br />Moreover, returns from expensively built assets rented at well below market rates take far longer than five years before providing returns which justify the original investment; and therefore long term certainty is critical in terms of providing a stable platform for those investment decisions.&nbsp;<br /><br />There are many other sub-plots at work here, particularly around the vulnerability of supported housing schemes, where the vast majority of investment in new developments by RPs has been put on hold pending clarification of how the funding regime will work in relation to the LHA cap &ndash; so rekindling confidence sufficient to release that pent up investment is far more complex than five years of rent policy, particularly when belief in the government being as good as its word has been so badly dented by the sudden reversal of what should have been a 10-year certain rent policy of CPI plus 1% introduced in 2015.&nbsp;&nbsp;<br /><br />So I would give the government&rsquo;s announcement &ldquo;one cheer&rdquo;, which is to say it brings welcome relief and seven years of certainty in total, including the remaining years of cuts; but still leaves RPs and Councils expected to make long-term investment decisions off the back of short-term policy, the risks associated with which are exacerbated by the next general election due in 2022.&nbsp;&nbsp;<br /><br />The important point to note, from a valuation perspective, is that CPI plus 1% is already expressly assumed in all our valuations as a long-term rate of rental growth, so there is no immediate increase that will result, as would be the case if, for example, we had been assuming CPI flat.&nbsp; Leading valuers have concurred on this point since the rent cuts were introduced.&nbsp; Nevertheless, it will give us greater confidence in that judgement going forward and may therefore have some marginal beneficial impact on discount rates &ndash; but we certainly do not expect this to be material.&nbsp;<br /><br />It also remains to be seen whether, either at the end of this deal or even during it, the government opts for a two-tier system, offering CPI plus 1% rental growth to development partners who are meeting the government&rsquo;s agenda of delivering new homes; but CPI only (if that) for those who do not.&nbsp;

Will the recent announcement made by government announcing a return to CPI plus 1% make a noticeable difference?

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The government's decision to link social housing rent increases to CPI plus 1% from March 2020 is a welcome change following a period of rent cuts.

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The government&rsquo;s announcement that increases in social housing rents will return to CPI plus 1% for a period of five years, after the current period of rent cuts ends in March 2020, is undoubtedly welcome.

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<p>Responding to the housing problem carries a new political imperative for Conservatives.&nbsp; &nbsp;It is hard to dispute the reception of Momentum by young people, but argument over the economic sense of Labour&rsquo;s housing announcements can be a moot point for those who have no capital, and therefore no stake in capitalism.&nbsp; Part of Labour&rsquo;s appeal is simply the offer of change.</p><p>The Conservative response on this ongoing issue got off to a shaky start at the Party Conference in Manchester.&nbsp; Within a matter of hours, Theresa May&rsquo;s opening announcement of an additional &pound;10bn for Help to Buy was dismissed, with remarkable consensus, as "economic illiteracy" by the housing fringe.&nbsp; It was a demand side response to a chronic housing supply problem, which went down badly with everyone except the housebuilders, who enjoyed an immediate &pound;1bn boost to their market value.&nbsp; The follow up commitment to &pound;2bn for social housing, which is expected to deliver 5,000 more council homes a year, was swiftly criticised as inadequate, but represents a welcome start.</p><p>Once the debates got underway, plenty of consensus did emerge.&nbsp; The industry made a clear call for policy decisions that offer certainty and continuity and Alok Sharma MP, the new Housing and Planning Minister, pledged his commitment to delivering the content of the White Paper and diversifying the delivery of new homes.&nbsp;</p><p>There was strong acknowledgement that public private partnerships are part of the solution. The challenge of housing delivery is recognised as bigger and more urgent than the capabilities of either the state or the private sector alone.&nbsp; The Minister made it clear he wanted to see the development of more public sector land, the private sector to deliver more high-quality homes to market and both to benefit from the collaboration.&nbsp;</p><p>The Minister indicated his support for the diversification of housing tenures and encouragement of institutional investment into the provision of high quality PRS units.&nbsp; The Minister also reiterated the Government&rsquo;s support for SME developers and their importance in solving the housing crisis.&nbsp; &nbsp;There has been an 80% decline in the number of small house builders over the past 25 years; a trend accelerated by the financial crisis in 2008.&nbsp; Growth in the number of SME's will diversify the delivery of new homes across the Country and this will also help with another issue &ndash; upskilling a new generation of construction workers.</p><p>Thanks to Brexit, the skills shortage has been dubbed a 'burning platform' as, for example, circa 8% of UK construction workers and 40% of London architects are European nationals.&nbsp; The issue is so significant, that technology is seen as an essential part of the solution.&nbsp; The Farmer Review was called &lsquo;Modernise or Die&rsquo; for good reason and the benefits of digitalisation, robotics and modern methods of construction (such as modular construction) received notable mention at the Conference.&nbsp; Effective training will be crucial to producing a new generation of digitally aware multi-skilled workers.</p><p>This strategy of diversification is logical and welcome, but it still feels like tinkering around the edges.&nbsp; Some other ideas to support housing delivery and greater home-ownership from the fringe include:</p><p>&bull; A Secretary of State for Housing.&nbsp; Given the average term of a Housing Minister of late is just 10 months, delegates suggested a cabinet member for Housing to give continuity and commitment to addressing the problem.</p><p>&bull; Cross-party buy-in to housing strategies.&nbsp; As Adam Challis, Head of Residential Research at JLL, succinctly observed at a fringe event - political cycles are generally shorter than property cycles.&nbsp; There is a material political risk to developers due to changing leadership and policy.</p><p>&bull; Development of some green belt sites.&nbsp; The liberal conservative think tank Bright Blue has been arguing for strategic and sustainable release of some greenbelt sites in Local Authorities where there is proven housing need.&nbsp; Not all greenbelt is &lsquo;green&rsquo; and there are sensible arguments for the release of land on the edge of existing settlements to help young families stay in their neighbourhood and contribute to their local communities.</p><p>&bull; A cut or significant reduction of SDLT for first time buyers.&nbsp; Advocated by Bright Blue, this would help first-time buyers across the country onto the housing ladder without suffering some of the market distortions created by Help to Buy.</p><p>&bull; A call for young people to support the housing development they want and need.&nbsp; Planning committees are dominated by older constituents defending their interests.&nbsp; Young people should vote with their feet and turn up in support, or better still get more involved in their local politics.&nbsp; It might secure them that stake in capitalism after all.<br />Alexandra Jezeph is a town planner and chartered surveyor working in the Capital Markets team at JLL and a Non-Executive Director at the liberal conservative think tank Bright Blue.</p><p>Alexandra Jezeph&nbsp;@alexjezeph</p>

Party Conference Season: What the Conservatives have promised to boost housing supply and increase home-ownership

Addressing the housing problem has gained political importance, highlighting the economic appeal of Labour&rsquo;s housing announcements amidst capital concerns.

Responding to the housing problem carries a new political imperative for Conservatives.&nbsp; &nbsp;It is hard to dispute the reception of Momentum by young people, but argument over the economic sense of Labour&rsquo;s housing announcements can be a moot point for those who have no capital, and therefore no stake in capitalism.&nbsp; Part of Labour&rsquo;s appeal is simply the offer of change.

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It is often cited that what happens in Central London ripples out through this city to the shires and countryside beyond. I have always found this analysis a bit too simplistic, but it does seem to hold weight among a few of today&rsquo;s commentators.<br />&nbsp;<br />These days Londoners seemingly hate it when its doing well, but hate it again when its doing nothing. The former of course means that prices are growing, undermining affordability and stretching already stretched budgets, especially for first-time buyers and renters. In contrast, price falls may be a signal of underlying economic weakness and for owner-occupiers, a challenge to pension planning.<br />&nbsp;<br />I recall a conversation with a journalist a couple of years ago, who noted that he had to shift 'positive' news coverage of improving values as the growing share of voice from priced-out renters howled at the insensitivity to their plight.<br />&nbsp;<br />Well, as it is said, 'there's good news, and there's bad news'. I guess it&rsquo;s a matter of perspective.<br />&nbsp;<br />The news is this. The Central London market is back. Well, not quite - but at the same time I don't know that it ever really left. Clearly the top end of Prime London has adjusted down to the tune of nearly 15% and a few developers exposed a bit further down the foodchain also have been quietly unloading stock at more favourable prices than planned.<br />&nbsp;<br />It's not that incentive activity has stopped, it&rsquo;s that there are signs of improving demand which has made it less important. Clients are pushing values again, and their clients are buying. The signs of life-as-normal are becoming more common.<br />&nbsp;<br />And our numbers have begun to bear this out. Central London new build prices are up 0.1% over H1 2017, with volumes up 17% compared with H2 2016. Hardly figures to get too excited about, but when placed in context with -4.1% and -17% a year ago, you might say that someone has reached back and is about to fling a pebble into the middle of that pond. Cue that ripple, we hope.<br />&nbsp;<br />I say 'we hope' because the need to enable higher supply volumes is unabated. Figures there aren't quite so good.<br />&nbsp;<br />New starts are up by 3% in H1 2017 compared with H2 2016, but down 19% on H2 2015. The pipeline is flattered by several tall buildings that got going before the market softened and the wave of activity behind them is looking a bit less full.<br />&nbsp;<br />This is pretty important because it comes just as the Mayor has launched his new Housing Strategy for London. There's lots of good and well-meaning stuff in there and bears the broad strokes of Government's housing White Paper. More players, more innovation, more modular. Oh - and a lot more affordable housing. Mustn't forget that bit.<br />&nbsp;<br />50% affordable housing ambitions are pretty steamy. However Sadiq Khan is well within rights to say 'I warned you'. He won largely on a 'housing for the many' ticket and while he has been hard-hat-ing and hi-viz-ing his way around live schemes, he has never softened on this ambition.<br />&nbsp;<br />Most developers have been running appraisals that, at least initially, work back from 35% affordable. But 50%? Don't think so. The land market impact may well push development activity backwards, just as momentum seems to be swinging back in favour of the sector.<br />&nbsp;<br />This would not be good news. Not good for anyone.<br />&nbsp;<br />So, signs of life in Central London. Its weakness has been largely a political creation. Let's hope that political intervention doesn't become its downfall before we get going again.

Central London Development - A Bumpy Ride

Central London&rsquo;s influence reaches beyond the city, shaping housing markets in surrounding areas according to some commentators.

It is often cited that what happens in Central London ripples out through this city to the shires and countryside beyond. I have always found this analysis a bit too simplistic, but it does seem to hold weight among a few of today&rsquo;s commentators.

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<div>I have been inclined lately to proffer up yet another commentary &ndash; to add to the legion &ndash; on government plans to boost housing supply. I like to think it would be a well-reasoned critique, with a planning nip here and a land value tuck there, alongside yet another clarion call for more money. The presumption would be to spend wisely of course, these are still austere days after all &ndash; and away we go.<br /><br />Except &ldquo;we&rdquo; never do go very far. Except housing supply never does respond very much. This, as a result, will not be that commentary.<br /><br />Readers of this blog will know that I have been a big supporter of the Housing White Paper. Where others see a damp squib, I see a document that finally acknowledges the unspoken truth. To move the needle on housing supply, we need to do things differently. Nip and tuck fine, but the time has come to move beyond precision surgery. It&rsquo;s time for &ndash; and even this has become a clich&eacute; in housing circles &ndash; bold action.<br /><br />When you think about it, it&rsquo;s pretty obvious isn&rsquo;t it? Need 100,000 more houses each year for the next&hellip; well&hellip; forever? I&rsquo;ve got it: planning reform. No wait, planning reform with a slice of accelerated land release. No wait &ndash; planning reform, accelerated land release and a BIG pot of money.<br /><br />The current big pot is the &pound;3bn home building fund, which amounts to roughly &pound;3,000 per additional home needed over the next decade in the form of a recoupable loan. That is not a lot of money. That is even less government commitment. I appreciate I&rsquo;m being a bit simplistic, but given that the Conservative manifesto offers no new capital, it would suggest that solutions to the housing crisis will somehow be conjured up by doing the same old things, just a little bit better. Really?<br /><br />Surely we can see that the same incremental improvements will yield the same (at best) incremental results. We need bold leadership and bold action. This isn&rsquo;t a tub-thumping, soapbox moment. It&rsquo;s just facing the facts. We aren&rsquo;t taking the problem seriously.</div><div><div>Hands off my policy<br /><br />At this point, many critics of modern housing policy will point, with dewy eyes, to the good old era of council housing delivered in the 1950s and 1960s. Surely that&rsquo;s it &ndash; we need councils to build again. No, we don&rsquo;t.<br /><br />This era also coincided with the new towns era. If only we had more Stevenages and Harlows, right? OK, so not a ringing endorsement, but then I would argue they were of their time and today&rsquo;s masterplanning and placemaking adopts a very different set of priorities. The model will evolve.<br /><br />I have been pretty critical of new town ideas in the past, with the succession of failures in the modern era spanning all three major political parties. Yep, even the Lib Dems had a failed crack at it under the coalition government only a few short years ago. But what we have not seen, and this is the lynchpin for me, is cross-party support for solutions.<br /><br />Housing policy &ndash; well, housing policy with the scale of the new towns ambition that we need &ndash; takes time to get right. Inevitably, that means successive governments, probably with a few different flavours along the way.<br /><br />But is it too much to ask for a bit of non-partisan spirit, in the interest of actually getting something started, to gain cross-party support for the bold housing solutions. Nobody&rsquo;s going to win or lose an election over it; we&rsquo;re all in it together.<br /><br />Then &ndash; just maybe &ndash; we can stop playing politics with housing policy, but have politicians taking more ambitious steps in the right direction for longer than the nanosecond that governments seem to last for these days.<br /><br />So to the new government I say this: strong and stable my foot, get the foundations in place first.</div></div>

Stop playing politics and go all in on housing policy

Critiques on government plans to boost housing supply suggest spending wisely on planning, land value adjustments, and increased funding.

I have been inclined lately to proffer up yet another commentary &ndash; to add to the legion &ndash; on government plans to boost housing supply. I like to think it would be a well-reasoned critique, with a planning nip here and a land value tuck there, alongside yet another clarion call for more money. The presumption would be to spend wisely of course, these are still austere days after all &ndash; and away we go.<br /><br />Except &ldquo;we&rdquo; never do go very far. Except housing supply never does respond very much. This, as a result, will not be that commentary.

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After more than a year of facing some uncomfortable truths of a market on the wane, there is a change in the Prime London residential market that is worth noting. To the chorus of 'you would say that', I'm going to say it&hellip; there are signs of a market on the turn.<br /><br />Transactions have been driven down to record lows and despite the legion of estate agents looking to put a brave spin on things, the truth is the market has been pretty dire for most of 2016.<br /><br />There are well-rehearsed arguments around Stamp Duty changes to high-value property and investor purchases, which have been disproportionately negative for Prime markets and in particular the new build space. Everyone would like to know what the market impacts of Brexit have been. In truth, it was the housing market equivalent of kicking a man while he's down.<br /><br />Yet, it should not be overlooked that - despite calls of huge oversupply in Central London - only 110 units were completed in the 'golden postcodes' last year. Further, only a modestly higher number were sold off-plan. I can probably find a dozen articles in the past week alone touting similar figures to highlight the dire straits in which the market finds itself. I see something different.<br /><br />A lack of completions, and more importantly a lack of new-build sales, means a lack of secondary product to drag on prices when demand improves. Lower off-plan sales volumes also means a lack of development funding to underwrite the next wave of delivery. In other words, no sales today means no delivery tomorrow.<br /><br />Meantime, repricing - my favourite agency term for falling prices - has carried on a pace. Admittedly many developers have been able to remain stubborn in an era of cheap debt. Certainly our headline price indices don't reflect the fullest extent of incentives and inducements that are being used to prop up weak sales momentum. But if we say for arguments' sake and easy math that prices have fallen by 10% for trophy properties, then that provides some measure of the market adjustment that has already taken place.<br /><br />Except, that isn't quite the full story. A weak pound sterling has meant that buyers in this most international of markets are seeing even bigger price reductions of closer to 25% over the past 18 months for dollar-pegged currencies. Remember the last time we had Prime price corrections of that scale? It was in 2008/09.<br /><br />Now, remember what happened from mid-2009? So began the most extraordinary rise in Prime capital values ever, peaking at an annualised growth rate of 24% in Q1 2010. The 'V-shaped' market recovery that nobody saw coming.<br /><br />But don't get too excited. I'm not about to become the lone voice of optimism amongst the columns and columns of negative opinion. However, I will stick my neck out and say while there is still further to go, post-Ramadan and summer hiatus, the Prime price floor will be found. What happens from there will be dictated by a whole range of domestic and international market and geopolitical factors. The demand is there and at a certain point this confluence of factors will align to drive interest.<br /><br />There are plenty of schemes covered in plastic that will be uncovered at the right price to soak up this early pool of buyers. That overhang of supply I noted is not wrong, it&rsquo;s just not in the form of committed projects - for now.<br /><br />I am not about to recast our price forecasts just yet. However, the lack of quality product currently available may well drive enough support under-pricing to see Central London sales volumes tick back up. Add to this the job creation, the S106 contributions - including swathes of new affordable housing - and we have something that deserves a wider airing beyond tabloid press.<br /><br />I for one look forward to some positive Central London residential commentary in the near future. Like it or not, the rest of London needs it.

Re-primed

The Prime London residential market shows signs of recovery after a challenging 2016, despite low transaction volumes and market difficulties.

After more than a year of facing some uncomfortable truths of a market on the wane, there is a change in the Prime London residential market that is worth noting. To the chorus of 'you would say that', I'm going to say it&hellip; there are signs of a market on the turn. Transactions have been driven down to record lows and despite the legion of estate agents looking to put a brave spin on things, the truth is the market has been pretty dire for most of 2016.

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<div id="residentialcontent_0_LeftColumn"><div>Henry Ford famously asserted that his cars came in any colour you like, as long as that colour was black. Hold that thought.<br /><br />For a Government seemingly doing and saying a lot of sensible things on housing, it isn't half taking a lot of flak for it. Is our scepticism of those in charge so high that we default to 'something must be wrong' anytime a new announcement is given? OK, fair enough &ndash; there is plenty of precedence. But maybe not this time.<br /><br />Dull is the New Exciting<br />A nothing Budget announcement was, ironically, both radical and good common sense. The least-worst thing a Government can do in times of uncertainty is to provide consistency, with only small adjustments to the tiller where needed. A bit of money given to stave off some of the looming care home crisis, a bit of money taken to correct the tax system that favoured the self-employed.<br /><br />I don't think the word &lsquo;housing&rsquo; was even uttered. Unprecedented stuff and such a relief given the amount of upheaval we have become accustomed to in recent years. The point here is between the Autumn Statement and the Housing White Paper, Government feels it has done its job to drive structural change in the industry. Over to you, folks.<br /><br />I for one did not join the chorus of disappointment regarding the White Paper. I was asked by a journalist on the day to work out what was missing (as clearly there must be something missing). My response &ndash; gimmicks. We are so used to politicking through housing policy that it felt a bit odd that the White Paper was full of good, sound, straightforward ideas and a lack of populist programming.<br /><br />There are in fact some bold strokes in there, if you are willing to read the full 104 page document. However, if you haven&rsquo;t read it at this stage, you aren&rsquo;t going to. Tell you what - let me summarise.<br /><br />For housebuilders, you may want to stop reading now. You do your job and Government has acknowledged that you can&rsquo;t do much more to ratchet up delivery rates. This White Paper is not for you.<br /><br /><ul><li>For Registered Providers, Build to Rent creators of Private Rented Communities, and SMEs; there is more direct and indirect support on the way, alongside a willingness and capacity at the HCA and in Local Planning Authorities to work with you. Engage. If you want to build more and in more locations, Government wants to help.</li><li>For the modular construction industry, get ready. You have been patronised by the industry for years and years. Now, the best of you will grow rapidly. You will also be disrupted by much bigger players. You will be flavour of the month for big capital seeking exposure to UK housing. It's sink or swim times and for those up for the challenge it should be pretty exciting.</li><li>Finally, Local Authorities. Under localism, many of you will play a political game on housing delivery. That is understood, so there is a standardised formula that ensures you play by Central Government&rsquo;s rules. Housing delivery targets by the back door. You will have the opportunity to raise a bit more money to pay for a lot more work. Localism will also mean you need to explore &ndash; pretty aggressively &ndash; local solutions to generate revenue streams through your existing estate. With that lack of capacity, many firms including my own will be offering you a range of solutions around land disposal, asset management and in the capital markets.</li></ul>Now back to Henry Ford. This is a Government that has adopted a mass production mindset. It would seem that the UK's industrial strategy is about to disrupt the housebuilding sector in a major way. It won&rsquo;t happen quickly &ndash; the best changes rarely do. But this is a Government that is clearly ambitious on solving the housing crisis. There is a kaleidoscope of solutions out there, and those that have merit will find support. But, there is also only one acceptable outcome.</div><div></div></div><div>&nbsp;</div>

The Rise Of Mass Production Housing

The government's housing initiatives face skepticism but may hold potential for meaningful change in housebuilding.

For a Government seemingly doing and saying a lot of sensible things on housing, it isn't half taking a lot of flak for it. Is our scepticism of those in charge so high that we default to 'something must be wrong' anytime a new announcement is given? OK, fair enough &ndash; there is plenty of precedence. But maybe not this time.

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<div id="residentialcontent_0_LeftColumn"><div>By Richard Valentine-Selsey, Senior Residential Research Analyst, JLL<br /><br />There is an ever-growing list of amenities that can be provided within Private Rented Communities (PRCs) ranging from the functional parcel storage room or bike spaces to the aspirational private dining and cinema rooms. But what impact do they have and can they result in a rental premium?<br /><br />Pushing the rental envelope<br />The inclusion of amenities is expected to allow PRCs to establish a rental premium over the current local market level.<br /><br />To unpick this, JLL Residential Research recently undertook analysis of 25 PRC schemes across London, which turned up some interesting results&mdash;these schemes are, on average, achieving a rental premium of 11% over their respective local markets.<br /><br />However, it is difficult to accurately define what proportion of this premium is specifically linked to amenities. Part of the challenge is the immaturity of the UK PRC market. Currently, many tenants are unable to value the benefit of access to a communal lounge or cinema room due to never having had the option in their rental properties before.<br /><br />The experience of the more mature US multifamily market, however, indicates that this will not always be the case.<br /><br />The US National Multifamily Housing Council undertook a survey in August 2015 that collected responses from 120,000 private renters across the country looking at &lsquo;what apartment renters want&rsquo;. As part of the survey respondents were asked what amenities they were interested in and importantly how much more rent they would expect to pay for these.<br /><br />The results showed that tenants, saw a direct link between access to amenities and additional rent; examples include paying an extra $40pcm (&pound;32) for a fitness centre and $34pcm (&pound;27) for additional onsite storage. These equate to premiums of 4.3% and 3.6% respectively of the US median multifamily rent, which according to the National Multifamily Housing Council is $940pcm (&pound;755).<br /><br />The US example indicates that as the UK PRC market matures and tenants become accustomed to the service and amenity offerings then they will start to attribute a value, allowing operators to begin charging a rental premium for their inclusion.<br /><br />If not yet, when?<br />This is all well and good, but when might the UK market reach the point at which tenants are able to attach a premium to amenities?<br /><br />As mentioned earlier, part of the problem is that very few renters across the country have been exposed to PRCs and therefore are not able to value the benefit of amenities. Of the nearly 900,000 private rental households in London, less than 1% currently live in a PRC. However, looking forward, there are 10,200 PRC units under construction and a further 16,800 with planning permission in the capital, which means once they are all completed 4% of London&rsquo;s rental population will be living in a PRC.<br /><br />The exponential rise of PRC development across, not only London, but the country will mean that more of the rental population will experience living in a fully equipped PRC and begin to understand how much amenities are worth. So while the UK still lags the USA in being able to attribute rental value to amenities, we are firmly on the way and with every completed scheme we move one step closer.</div></div><div><div><header><h5>&nbsp;</h5></header><div><p></p></div></div></div>

Will tenants pay more rent for amenities?

There is an ever-growing list of amenities that can be provided within Private Rented Communities (PRCs) ranging from the functional parcel storage room or bike spaces to the aspirational private dining and cinema rooms. But what impact do they have and can they result in a rental premium?

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Desperate times call for desperate measures, they say. Personally, I've always thought that notion was not terribly good advice. My suspicion is Theresa May might agree with me.<br /><br />The PM is has stayed firm by not allowing herself to be pushed or pulled by the howls to make Brexit mean something. 'When I'm good and ready' you could imagine has rattled around her head quite a lot in recent months. This week we learned more about plans for Brexit, allowing a good 6 weeks for the details to be debated before the official firing of the Article 50 starter&rsquo;s pistol.<br /><br />The same patient approach could be said for the newest tome planned from Government to save us from the desperate straits of new build paralysis. The long awaited housing White Paper has been variously trailed to be delivered prior to the Autumn Statement, as part of the Autumn Statement, just before the Christmas holiday break and again last week.<br /><br />Admittedly, these are just rumours and this is not a time to spread more false news. However, it would seem that there is just enough credence to the idea that early drafts simply haven't had enough substance to meet the challenge. When I&rsquo;m good and ready, indeed.<br /><br />Less is More<br />LSE Professor Christine Whitehead recently totted up the number of new housing policy initiatives since 2010. The number she arrived at is 180. That line is worth repeating; the number she arrived at is 180. Wow.<br /><br />It seems there is no shortage of energy being poured into housing initiatives. (180 - seriously!) Don&rsquo;t get me wrong, as the research guy I get paid to unpack changing markets and the things that influence them. So you might expect me to be cheering a White Paper that seems increasingly likely to offer a whole new raft of ideas to work through. Based on what we know so far, I have decidedly mixed views.<br /><br />On one hand, despite all that effort, the market clearly still isn&rsquo;t working to deliver the homes this country needs. Something needs doing differently, no doubt. There was actually a lot of really good stuff in the Autumn Statement leaders and some bold strokes in clearing away the less-credible stuff from the Housing and Planning Act. Or so I thought, until Starter Homes was re-announced at the dawn of the New Year. And even deeper from the recesses, we had &lsquo;Garden Towns and Villages&rsquo;, with the quaint notion that the thinking which inspired low-density, car-dependent delivery from the 1920s had even the vaguest relevance to today&rsquo;s housing need. My stomach hadn&rsquo;t felt so empty since Christmas Eve.<br /><br />Blank White Pages<br />Maybe the bold idea here isn&rsquo;t to pile on yet more new layers of thinking to the old ones &ndash; maybe what is needed is less. If I was struggling to find faith in Theresa May&rsquo;s Government or her new housing champion then this idea would feel like the least-worst option. However, Gavin Barwell has done a remarkable job of getting across his brief in his first 6 months on the job and as a result the regurgitation of old, widely panned ideas is nothing short of a disappointment. Let&rsquo;s not forget that as Eco-towns, this iteration goes back to 2007 and Gordon Brown &ndash; when he was Chancellor. I believe Barwell and DCLG Secretary of State Sajid Javid can and will do better in time.<br /><br />Now we all know that the number 180 is feared in political circles and it may be that this throat-clearing exercise before the main event has been to &ndash; technically &ndash; avoid a U-turn. Let&rsquo;s hope so. Because the truth is, I still remain an optimist. Accelerated Construction, Housing Infrastructure Fund, modular/ off-site and BIM support all feel like good, solid programmes to expanded delivery by addressing supply bandwidth and the resilience of the supply chain. It&rsquo;s a focus on the right side of the equation and it&rsquo;s a focus on long-term restructuring of an industry approach to delivery that has struggled to modernise at the pace of other manufacturing industries. A shake-up would do it some good and importantly this new direction appears to have the financial backing of the Chancellor.<br /><br />One of the political challenges of trying to boost housing supply is that the fruits of any labour, whether good or bad, tend to take years to bed-in. 5 year political cycles come around just a bit to quickly for supporters to claim the credit of successes and often new governments can get rid of &lsquo;failing&rsquo; schemes just as they are bedding in. Long-term policies and short-term politics are poor bedfellows.<br /><br />The current woeful state of the official opposition suggests that Government doesn&rsquo;t have to look to 2020, but perhaps to 2025 and beyond. So, with a cool head and steady hand, Theresa May realises that extra months getting it right are worth years of righting the wrongs of bad policy.<br /><br />Keep calm and issue the White Paper. Now that&rsquo;s fighting talk.

Fighting Talk

Despite numerous new housing policies since 2010, mixed views prevail on the effectiveness of upcoming White Paper proposals.

LSE Professor Christine Whitehead recently totted up the number of new housing policy initiatives since 2010. It seems there is no shortage of energy being poured into housing initiatives, so you might expect me to be cheering a White Paper that seems increasingly likely to offer a whole new raft of ideas to work through. Based on what we know so far, I have decidedly mixed views.

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By Adam Challis, UK and EMEA Head of Residential Research, JLL<br /><br />The next big thing for UK housing delivery is - for many - neither new, nor innovative. Yet modular is likely to drive the biggest change in the way houses get built in the UK for over a century. In 2017, theory (in the UK) will finally hit reality.<br /><br />But what will be the harbingers of this change? The L&amp;G factory in Leeds is clearly a big step in the right direction, but will developers and housebuilders get on the modular bandwagon to make the factory profitable? There have been announcements from some, with Berkeley adding its name to the list of existing developers using modular, including Essential Living, Urban Splash and Pocket Living.<br /><br />The industry is finally getting serious about the need to &lsquo;Modernise or Die&rsquo; as the Farmer Review so directly puts it. With a shrinking and destabilised workforce, the need to go off-site will become ever more critical. Aligned with this shift, and perhaps just as important, is the need for greater adoption of Building Information Modelling (or BIM). A standard requirement for public sector construction, BIM has not been widely adopted in the private sector, other than in 3-D modelling at design stage. However, BIM can produce a level of cost certainty that just is not possible with traditional build methods as well as even more significant savings through more accurate, standardised procurement and post-completion feedback loops.<br /><br />Perhaps most importantly, there is strong Government support and alignment with the needs of the industry. This is clearly in evidence by the enabling role taken to support the &pound;2.6 billion investment by WeLink/ CNBM with Yorkshire-based Your Housing Group. This December announcement demonstrates that modular, and closely associated BIM, are much more than just a fad and are set to drive a lasting paradigm shift.

Modular Construction

The next big thing for UK housing delivery is - for many - neither new, nor innovative. Yet modular is likely to drive the biggest change in the way houses get built in the UK for over a century.

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<div id="main"><div><div id="residentialcontent_0_LeftColumn"><div>By Ashley Perry, Senior Project Manager, JLL<br /><br />Next year&rsquo;s housing white paper will hopefully cement the government&rsquo;s commitment to housebuilding &ndash; but what will it mean for major London developments?<br /><br />I think we can all agree that, at this stage, what the capital really needs is an achievable housebuilding target. Government needs to demonstrate that it has really thought this one through.<br /><br />A pragmatic approach, along with a sensible set of targets and a commitment to delivery, will be a reassuring step forward in solving the housing crisis.<br /><br />Private Rented Communities will be one to watch in next year&rsquo;s white paper.<br /><br />We will see, for the first time, direct government support and promotion of the private rented sector, with continued investor interest as local planning authorities continue to evolve their opinion of Build to Rent developments.<br /><br />London will continue to support the growth of the Build to Rent market with recognised discount market rent as an affordable alternative and, almost certainly, we will see further support for institutional investment in this area.<br /><br />Retirement living<br />Next on the list is retirement housing.<br /><br />Currently the majority of government support sits with the first-time buyer end of the market and lacks incentives at the other end of the spectrum.<br /><br />Over-occupation of larger residential property is a concern but there are some exciting developers such as Pegasus Life who are making a strong case for continued investor interest in the retirement living sector. Indeed, there is an untapped pot of equity that could be released if suitable developments, in strategic locations, are provided.<br /><br />Continued innovation across the industry from the likes Legal &amp; General, Pocket and many others is bringing promise for the future of construction delivery, given the pressures on skilled labour.<br /><br />Alternative construction materials such as timber and modular construction methods are starting to gain popularity; however, it will take time for clients, consultants and contractors to fully embrace these new ways of working.<br /><br />Emerging markets such as Build to Rent will likely drive this vision.<br /><br />Community infrastructure<br />While the green-belt development discussion has its merits, housing should not be considered purely on the basis of land availability.<br /><br />Housing, which forms part of a community&rsquo;s infrastructure, must also be included in the conversation with policy-makers in areas such as healthcare, transport and education.<br /><br />The upcoming white paper will hopefully bring a holistic view of infrastructure, devolution, planning policy, land, construction methods, and the future of living across all generations, whether it be downsizing, renting or buying a home.<br /><br />Let&rsquo;s hope this is the start of an exciting period for the residential market amid the hazy uncertainty of Brexit.<br /><br /><i>This blog entry by JLL Senior Project Manager Ashley Perry was taken from his regular column for Construction News.</i></div></div><div><div><header><h5></h5></header></div><div></div><div></div></div></div></div><footer><div><div><a href="http://residential.jll.co.uk/"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 575.4 255.1" width="66px"><g><path d="M344.6 51.5h-64.1v5.9c3.1.3 5.6.6 7.6 1.1 2.4.6 4.2 1.3 5.5 2.4 3.8 3.3 3.7 9.4 3.7 20.4v74.2c0 15.1 1.4 36.5-20.1 36.2-9.2-.1-18.6-6.7-21.5-18.6h-7.4c3.1 20 13.8 33.6 39.6 33.6h.2c21.9 0 41.5-10.1 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Residential: What To Look Out For In 2017

The upcoming housing white paper may reaffirm the government's housebuilding commitment. Potential impacts on London developments.

Next year&rsquo;s housing white paper will hopefully cement the government&rsquo;s commitment to housebuilding &ndash; but what will it mean for major London developments?

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<p>By Adam Challis, UK &amp; EMEA Head of Residential Research, JLL</p><p>The two great political events of the year, possibly of a generation, have been followed by a raft of soul searching. That much is obvious.</p><p>But - Farage and the Brexiteers didn't invent populist rhetoric, and despite the widespread disbelief of his historic win outside of the United States, neither did Trump. I feel hard pressed to find a more effective use of heart-not-head communication to overcome what appears a perverse outcome to many, especially the 'educated' losers of both votes.</p><p>It seems to me that these results highlight a key manifestation of the mistrust in establishment politicians. Weight of opinion has come to matter at least as much, and sometimes more, than the weight of evidence. Was it ever thus? I don&rsquo;t think so.</p><p>The growth in social media has become the catalysing force, democratising information flows of both true and false news. As a &lsquo;content creator&rsquo; &ndash; so, so much more than a mere researcher these days - I appear to be losing value. Rapidly.</p><p>The discredited experts in a post-truth world seem to only see this as a negative turn of events. Most of us do our best to get under the skin of an issue and to form credible, well-rounded views. Occasionally, we might even push out a few insights. But in our blink-and-you-missed-it approach to news feeds, rational debate is sometimes buried under the headline and frankly, attention spans have moved on by then.</p>But things change, and effective communication becomes more important than ever and more nuanced than ever, even for us peddlers of facts. How does all this fit in our brave new world?<div><br /><h4>Old Institution, New Tricks</h4><p>This just in. Our winter Autumn Statement will now happen in the spring. It is said that the Autumn Statement needed rebranding for a more uplifting season. {Disclaimer: that last bit was false news, but at least summer has been left well out of it, for now.}</p><p>Disruption is de-rigeur. It seems that the process of innovation relies on a healthy dose of the stuff in order to start its day &ndash; a bit like fibre.&nbsp;</p><p>Theresa May clearly has been consuming this idea by the bowlful, and the &pound;23 billion Autumn Statement commitment to a new National Productivity Investment Fund is a pretty big bet on disruption. It will fuel a structural shift in UK plc as we innovate our way over the horizon line into a&nbsp; <a href="https://residential.jll.co.uk/insights/research">post-Brexit world</a>.</p><p>To be clear, there is a healthy dose of straightforward&nbsp; <a href="https://residential.jll.co.uk/?item=web%3a%7b943B38D0-BAE3-4B91-BE4A-72248DCFDA0E%7d%40en-GB">affordable housing investment</a>&nbsp;alongside new roads and support for the Oxbridge rail link. But even this investment isn&rsquo;t business as usual, with housing investment designed to support burgeoning off-site construction, alongside &lsquo;digital&rsquo; rail enhancements and 5G connectivity. The Oxbridge bit, one would hope, speaks for itself.</p>The key takeaway, one that I find enormously encouraging, is that in the&nbsp; <a href="https://residential.jll.co.uk/insights">Chancellor&rsquo;s first and last Autumn Statement</a>&nbsp;we have a Government that is investing in tomorrow, rather than today. There IS life after Brexit. Refreshingly, this is a plan for future competitiveness, rather than a competition for populist votes.&nbsp;</div><div><br /><h2></h2><h4>Style Pointers</h4><p>I had the pleasure of watching the PM trail these messages at the CBI Conference only days prior. One of the more remarkable parts of that performance, in contrast with her predecessor on that stage in previous years, was the deliberate no-nonsense communication style. I couldn't help but feel drawn by this battle cry and contrast with a much stronger charm offensive from David Cameron. It seems that PM May has chosen her style; a steely, forward-looking competence that will be projected time and again across the channel over the next few years.&nbsp;</p><p>I was disrupted myself at a recent conference, where I was due to present after one of the ubiquitous innovators of the moment. Nothing unusual about that, nor was it that this millionaire was charming, much younger and dressed in standard innovator-issue jeans and casual jumper.&nbsp;</p><p>He was damn good at his craft, holding his audience of 150 in captivated silence for 30 minutes. As it turned out me included, to the extent that it took me a few moments too long to realise I was up next! Following on in my standard issue navy suit and tie with graph-filled Powerpoint, I felt distinctly like yesterday's man.&nbsp;</p><p>Here&rsquo;s hoping the woman of the moment doesn&rsquo;t get caught out in quite the same way. Early indicators suggest the PM is planning to be more disruptor, than disruptee.</p></div>

Communication. Disrupted.

The two great political events of the year, possibly of a generation, have been followed by a raft of soul searching. That much is obvious.

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<div id="main"><div><div id="residentialcontent_0_LeftColumn"><div>Sadiq Khan has now been Mayor of London for a little over six months and his attention is beginning to turn to the Capital&rsquo;s planning policies. His&nbsp;<a href="https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/planning/implementing-london-plan/supplementary-planning-guidance/affordable-housing" target="_blank">Housing Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG) was published today</a>, and this will set the tone of how the new administration will address housing delivery, including boosting the supply of "genuinely affordable" homes.<br /><br />Fast-tracking publication of the SPG is partly a reflection of the time it will take for Khan to review and update the London Plan, which is scheduled for completion in 2019 with the first round of formal consultation due in Autumn 2017. But it is also a good indication of the London Mayor&rsquo;s development priorities. It is within this context that we should consider key stakeholder responses to initial presentations on the emerging London Plan.<br /><br />An early bone of contention for some is the need for the London Plan to recognise outer London in its own right. It should not, argue these stakeholders, be posited merely as housing dormitories for the economic powerhouse of central London. Rather, strategic policy should acknowledge and encourage its economic strengths. Is this a fair criticism of the current London Plan?<br /><br />Its spatial strategy stipulates that "<i>[a]ll parts of London will have a contribution to make as part of a complex urban whole</i>" and sees the Central Activities Zone (CAZ), and inner and outer London having complementary, interwoven relationships. In short, London is a sum of its parts.<br /><br />It is also not entirely true to say there is no specific strategic policy for Outer London already. Boris Johnson made a point of recognising this during his tenure as London Mayor. His intention was realising its potential not only in terms of housing but also in respect of its economic opportunities.<br /><br />Nevertheless, with London arguably moving ever-outwards, perhaps now is the time to reconsider how outer London is addressed and shaped within the London Plan. There are numerous issues to unpick here.<br /><br />Whilst planning policy can always benefit from fine-tuning, I would argue that its role is not to be overly prescriptive so as to avoid constraining development unnecessarily. One useful London Plan function, however, is establishing the broad strategy for opening up development potential. This includes things like new public transport links and corridors, encouraging higher density development (even in leafy suburbia), as well as identifying specific areas for more intense development.<br /><br />Clearly, central London&rsquo;s economic role is enormous, and I&rsquo;d contend that affordability issues for living centrally are not new. The role of outer London boroughs for providing housing is certainly a well-established historical trend.<br /><br />The bigger issue, I would argue, is the under-emphasis on commercial uses. I&rsquo;m not convinced this a problem unique to outer London- Westminster has introduced policy to try and "fix" the effects of office to residential permitted development rights and its previous local plan policies which the Council felt tipped the balance of residential / commercial floorspace too far in favour of residential.<br /><br />The areas outside central London do also have a servicing role. Not merely in terms of housing, but also in respect of providing a sufficient amount of employment land to enable central London to function properly. Strategic planning has a role here (and, to date, Khan&rsquo;s administration has not been forthcoming as to planning&rsquo;s role in protecting and delivering employment land). But local planning authorities and their local planning policies also have a role here.<br /><br />My feeling is that recognising outer London in its own right will be a natural outcome of strategic planning policy that acknowledges that successful and sustainable places result from a mix of land uses, and are easily reached. While there is currently a housing crisis, we will soon have another type of crisis if planning becomes all about housing delivery.</div></div><div><div><header><h5>&nbsp;</h5></header></div><div></div><div></div><div></div></div></div></div><footer><div><div><a href="http://residential.jll.co.uk/"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 575.4 255.1" width="66px"><g><path d="M344.6 51.5h-64.1v5.9c3.1.3 5.6.6 7.6 1.1 2.4.6 4.2 1.3 5.5 2.4 3.8 3.3 3.7 9.4 3.7 20.4v74.2c0 15.1 1.4 36.5-20.1 36.2-9.2-.1-18.6-6.7-21.5-18.6h-7.4c3.1 20 13.8 33.6 39.6 33.6h.2c21.9 0 41.5-10.1 41.5-44.4v-81c0-11.1-.1-16.9 3.7-20.2 2.4-2.1 4.5-3.1 11.2-3.8v-5.8zM418.2 51.5h-64.1V57.4c6.7.7 8.7 1.7 11.2 3.8 3.1 2.6 3.6 6.9 3.7 14.2V179c-.1 7.3-.7 11.6-3.7 14.2-2.4 2.1-4.5 3.1-11.2 3.8V202.9H451l10.2-29.6h-7.5c-7.4 16.3-19 18.2-29.5 18.2-8.6 0-14.3-.5-18.4-3.1-3.3-2.1-4.5-7.6-4.5-17V81.3c0-11.1-.1-17.2 3.7-20.4 2.4-2.1 6.5-2.9 13.2-3.5v-5.9z"></path><path d="M525 51.5h-64.1V57.4c6.7.7 8.7 1.7 11.2 3.8 3.1 2.6 3.6 6.9 3.7 14.2V179c-.1 7.3-.7 11.6-3.7 14.2-2.4 2.1-4.5 3.1-11.2 3.8V202.9H557.8l10.2-29.6h-7.5c-7.4 16.3-19 18.2-29.5 18.2-8.6 0-14.3-.5-18.4-3.1-3.3-2.1-4.5-7.6-4.5-17V81.3c0-11.1-.1-17.2 3.7-20.4 2.4-2.1 6.5-2.9 13.2-3.5v-5.9z"></path><path d="M95.1 248.5c3-1.4 5.8-3 8.5-4.9.6-.4 1.2-.8 1.7-1.2 3.4-2.5 6.5-5.4 9.5-8.5 3.8-4.1 7.3-8.5 10.3-13.2 2.4-3.7 4.7-7.6 6.7-11.5 7.9-15.4 12.9-32.6 15.5-49.4 1.7-10.9 2.5-21.9 2.5-32.7 0-10.8-.8-21.8-2.5-32.7-2.6-16.8-7.6-34-15.5-49.4-.9-1.8-1.9-3.6-2.9-5.3-4.2 7.7-7.6 15.8-10.4 24.1 5.1 15.2 8.1 31.1 9.2 47.1.4 5.4.5 10.8.5 16.3 0 5.4-.1 10.9-.5 16.3-1.3 19.5-5.4 38.9-12.9 57-2.9 7-6.3 13.8-10.3 20.3-.9 1.5-1.8 3.1-2.8 4.6-2 3-4.2 6-6.6 8.9-2.7 3.3-5.5 6.5-8.5 9.4-3.2 3.2-6.7 6.1-10.3 8.7l-.9.6v.3c6.7-.2 13.5-2 19.7-4.8zm0-14.3z"></path><path d="M134.5 248.5c3-1.4 5.9-3 8.5-4.9.6-.4 1.2-.8 1.7-1.2 11.4-8.6 20-20.5 26.5-33.2 7.9-15.4 12.9-32.6 15.5-49.4 1.7-10.9 2.5-21.9 2.5-32.7 0-10.8-.8-21.8-2.5-32.7-2.6-16.8-7.6-34-15.5-49.4-6-11.7-13.8-22.7-23.9-31.1-3.3 3.5-6.3 7.2-9.1 11 1 1.3 1.9 2.7 2.8 4 16.2 24.1 24 53 26 81.9.4 5.4.5 10.8.6 16.3 0 5.4-.2 10.9-.6 16.3-2 28.8-9.8 57.7-26 81.9-2 3-4.2 6-6.6 8.9-2.7 3.3-5.5 6.5-8.5 9.4-3.2 3.2-6.7 6.1-10.3 8.7l-.9.6v.3c6.9-.1 13.6-1.9 19.8-4.7z"></path><path d="M184.2 242.4c11.4-8.6 20-20.5 26.5-33.2 7.9-15.4 12.9-32.6 15.5-49.4 1.7-10.9 2.5-21.9 2.5-32.7 0-10.8-.8-21.8-2.5-32.7-2.6-16.8-7.6-34-15.5-49.4-6.4-12.6-15-24.6-26.5-33.2-8.5-6.4-19.2-10.6-30-10.9v.3c10.4 7.3 19.3 17.2 26.3 27.6 16.3 24.1 24.1 53 26 81.9.4 5.4.5 10.8.6 16.3 0 5.4-.2 10.9-.6 16.3-2 28.8-9.8 57.7-26 81.9-7 10.4-15.8 20.4-26.3 27.6v.3c10.7-.1 21.4-4.3 30-10.7z"></path><path d="M134.5 5.8c-3 1.4-5.8 3-8.5 4.9-.6.4-1.2.8-1.7 1.2-3.4 2.5-6.5 5.4-9.5 8.5-3.8 4.1-7.3 8.5-10.3 13.2-2.4 3.7-4.7 7.6-6.7 11.5-7.9 15.4-12.9 32.6-15.5 49.4-1.7 10.9-2.5 21.9-2.5 32.7 0 10.8.8 21.8 2.5 32.7 2.6 16.8 7.6 34 15.5 49.4.9 1.8 1.9 3.6 2.9 5.3 4.2-7.7 7.6-15.8 10.4-24.1-5.1-15.2-8.1-31.1-9.2-47.1-.4-5.4-.5-10.8-.5-16.3 0-5.4.1-10.9.5-16.3 1.3-19.5 5.4-38.9 12.9-57 2.9-7 6.3-13.8 10.3-20.3.9-1.5 1.8-3.1 2.8-4.6 2-3 4.2-6 6.6-8.9 2.7-3.3 5.5-6.5 8.5-9.4 3.2-3.2 6.7-6.1 10.3-8.7l.9-.6V1c-6.8.2-13.5 1.9-19.7 4.8zm0 14.3z"></path><path d="M95.1 5.8c-3 1.4-5.9 3-8.5 4.9-.6.4-1.2.8-1.7 1.2-11.4 8.6-20 20.5-26.5 33.2-7.9 15.4-12.9 32.6-15.5 49.4-1.7 10.9-2.5 21.9-2.5 32.7 0 10.8.8 21.8 2.5 32.7 2.6 16.8 7.6 34 15.5 49.4 6 11.7 13.8 22.7 23.9 31.1 3.3-3.5 6.3-7.2 9.1-11-1-1.3-1.9-2.7-2.8-4-16.2-24.1-24-53-26-81.9-.4-5.4-.5-10.8-.6-16.3 0-5.4.2-10.9.6-16.3 2-28.8 9.8-57.7 26-81.9 2-3 4.2-6 6.6-8.9 2.7-3.3 5.5-6.5 8.5-9.4 3.2-3.2 6.7-6.1 10.3-8.7l.9-.6V1c-6.9.2-13.6 1.9-19.8 4.8z"></path><path d="M45.4 11.9C34 20.4 25.4 32.4 19 45 11.1 60.5 6.1 77.6 3.5 94.4c-1.7 11-2.5 21.9-2.5 32.7 0 10.8.8 21.8 2.5 32.7 2.6 16.8 7.6 34 15.5 49.4 6.4 12.6 15 24.6 26.5 33.2 8.5 6.4 19.2 10.6 30 10.9v-.3c-10.4-7.3-19.3-17.2-26.3-27.6-16.3-24.1-24.1-53.1-26-81.9-.4-5.4-.5-10.8-.6-16.3 0-5.4.2-10.9.6-16.3 2-28.8 9.8-57.7 26-81.9C56.2 18.6 65 8.6 75.5 1.4V1C64.7 1.3 54 5.5 45.4 11.9zM121.7 240.3c3.3-3.5 6.3-7.2 9.1-11-1-1.3-1.9-2.7-2.8-4-1-1.5-1.9-3-2.8-4.6-3.1 4.7-6.5 9.1-10.3 13.2 2.1 2.3 4.4 4.4 6.8 6.4M143 243.6c-2.7 1.9-5.5 3.5-8.5 4.9 6.2 2.9 12.9 4.6 19.7 4.8v-.3c-4-2.9-7.7-6-11.2-9.4M111.1 253c1.1-.1 2.1-.3 3.2-.5-1.1-.8-2.1-1.5-3.2-2.4-2.6-2-5.1-4.2-7.5-6.6-2.7 1.9-5.5 3.5-8.5 4.9 4.1 1.9 8.4 3.2 12.8 4 1 .3 2.1.5 3.2.6m3.7.2v-.3c-.2-.1-.4-.3-.5-.4-1.1.2-2.1.4-3.2.5 1.2.1 2.5.2 3.7.2zM107.9 13.9c-3.3 3.5-6.3 7.2-9.1 11 1 1.3 1.9 2.7 2.8 4 1 1.5 1.9 3 2.8 4.6 3.1-4.7 6.5-9.1 10.3-13.2-2.1-2.2-4.4-4.4-6.8-6.4"></path><path d="M86.6 10.7c2.7-1.9 5.5-3.5 8.5-4.9C88.9 2.9 82.2 1.2 75.4 1v.3c3.9 2.8 7.7 6 11.2 9.4M134.5 5.8c-4.1-1.9-8.4-3.2-12.8-4-1.1-.2-2.1-.4-3.2-.5-1.2-.2-2.5-.3-3.7-.3v.3c.2.1.4.3.5.4 1.1.8 2.1 1.5 3.2 2.4 2.6 2 5.1 4.2 7.5 6.6 2.7-1.9 5.5-3.6 8.5-4.9"></path></g></svg></a></div></div></footer>

Is London Planning Too Centrally Focused?

Mayor Sadiq Khan's Housing SPG sets the tone for addressing London's affordable housing supply and planning policies.

Sadiq Khan has now been Mayor of London for a little over six months and his attention is beginning to turn to the Capital&rsquo;s planning policies. His Housing Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG) was published today, and this will set the tone of how the new administration will address housing delivery, including boosting the supply of &ldquo;genuinely affordable&rdquo; homes.

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<p><font face="inherit" size="-1">Much has been made of residential housebuilding targets and their futility, given the dynamics of the market.</font></p><br />The issues are simple in economic terms: there is a skilled labour shortage and material prices are fluctuating, which are serving to exacerbate the much-needed demand for increased housing supply. Notwithstanding this, sustainability requirements will place further pressures on the UK market. Something has to give.<br /><br />The UK has a diminishing resource of skilled labour. Residential housebuilding needs a step-change in terms of efficiency if it has a chance of boosting supply. Indeed, developers logically only build what they can sell and therefore are not necessarily incentivised to deliver more quickly than that. Unless future construction methods are part of local planning policy or incentivised through market pressures, it seems unlikely that private developers will drive the change.<br /><br />Increased efficiency<br />While the focus often falls on the private sales market, it is the burgeoning pipeline of build-to-rent units that stands to benefit most from any increase in efficiency. The demographics make sense for private rental sector investment and now, at last, the market is driving the supply chain.<br /><br />PRS developer and operator Essential Living recently announcing its intention to &lsquo;go modular&rsquo; &ndash; manufacturing building sections off site and then assembling them on site. This approach is often speedier, more flexible and able to deliver a faster return on investment.<br /><br />In fact, Legal &amp; General has built an offsite factory for mass timber modular units in Yorkshire that could supply thousands of apartments a year, including its own pipeline of build-to-rent projects. There are also other developers, both affordable and premium, that have shown interest in their own factories.<br /><br />It is vitally important for developers to consider material usage while focusing on modern methods of construction to increase housing supply.<br /><br />Mass timber is an alternative structural material where the thickness of panels range up to around 200 mm. It&rsquo;s a sturdy, precise material that&rsquo;s viable for towers up to 18 storeys. The vast majority of towers proposed in London are below 20 storeys and therefore could conceivably be built from this alternative material.<br /><br />Timber towers<br />A key example of mass timber construction designed to deliver both efficiency and long-term revenue generation is Regal Homes&rsquo; Dalston Lane project designed by Waugh Thistleton.<br /><br />The site, which will have High Speed 1 and Crossrail pass under it, chose cross-laminated timber as its material because it is lightweight and will also allow for a further two storeys of rental accommodation to be built on top. This is a great example of an innovative building approach with a tangible financial benefit &ndash; the ideal win-win.<br /><br />Mass timber provides a tangible solution to the housing crisis alongside both modular and volumetric construction. There is no panacea &ndash; that much is clear &ndash; but it is worth exploring on the majority of projects and in particular on build-to-rent schemes. Rents could be achieved more quickly due to the reduced construction programme, while financing costs would also be lowered, boosting development yields.<br /><br />We only have a limited pool of resources both in terms of human capital and finance, so we need to do more with less. This year has already brought an exciting shift to the UK&rsquo;s housing approach, particularly with new housing minister Gavin Barwell&rsquo;s welcome encouragement for offsite construction, but this is only just the beginning.

The Timber Solution For Private Rented Communities

UK residential housebuilding faces challenges due to skilled labor shortages and fluctuating material prices, impacting market sustainability.

Much has been made of residential housebuilding targets and their futility, given the dynamics of the market. The issues are simple in economic terms: there is a skilled labour shortage and material prices are fluctuating, which are serving to exacerbate the much-needed demand for increased housing supply. Notwithstanding this, sustainability requirements will place further pressures on the UK market. Something has to give.

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<div>By Adam Challis, Head of Residential Research, JLL<br /><br />In my first proper job, I had the opportunity to help organise a sales conference for a carpet manufacturer. We called it the 'Wall to Wall Conference'. Thankfully my stint as a marketeer was short lived.<br /><br />I came across the same company many years later when analysing the purpose-built private rented sector in the United States. One investor/ landlord talked to me about the bedroom sizes, which were a specific width to fit a standard roll of carpet. Fewer cuts meant less wastage, faster turnaround between tenancies, and bluntly, contributed to more profitable buildings. The investor had thousands more homes planned, chock full of tiny tweaks to standard building practices that drove better returns.<br /><br />I like this little anecdote in the context of Space Standards, because it reminds me of how far away they are from serving any commercial purpose. On a good day they represent a planning simplification of what would otherwise be quite complex issues of design quality. On a bad day, they represent a lazy proxy for design standards.</div><blockquote>"Prospective purchasers knew where they wanted to be and would make concessions on other attributes of their wish list to get there. Turns out, unit size is less important than we think."</blockquote><cite>Adam Challis Head of Residential Research, JLL</cite><div><div>In conjunction with Pocket Living, JLL ran a research survey in 2015 to better understand what first-time buyers want. It turns out that space matters, but not that much.<br /><br />Out in front, by some margin, was location. Prospective purchasers knew where they wanted to be and would make concessions on other attributes of their wish list to get there. Turns out, unit size is less important than we think.<br /><br />It should be said here that Pocket Living delivers to minimum space standards, but by designing very clever and ergonomic homes, they are able to squeeze more value out of the space for future occupiers. That's good economy for the developer, but smaller units cost less, meaning they are affordable to a higher proportion of the population. By our calculations, in London that meant an extra 200,000 households.<br /><br />The point is worth repeating; smaller units are more affordable to more people. And in the right location, that's what they want.<br /><br />Said a different way, bigger most certainly isn't always better. I am also not convinced that a simplistic approach to space standards is relevant to the modern city dweller. Demographic changes are creating smaller household sizes. Later family formation, family breakup, and living longer (often alone) together mean that space requirements are changing. Let alone the housing affordability challenge, which is set only to worsen.<br /><br />We are also seeing a shift towards shared spaces. Who needs a private dining room if one can be made available for all residents in a building on request. Business centres over a study, rooftop garden over a balcony; all provided at higher quality under a collective principle. Increasingly, shared spaces can replicate the same needs but do it better - and cheaper for occupiers.<br /><br />Returning to purpose-built rental blocks (what JLL in the UK calls Private Rented Communities, or PRCs), cumbersome design standards can get in the way of greater building densities that improve the economics of this new asset class. There is all kinds of innovation in this space - pun intended - but space standards are undermining the economics of delivery in higher value locations. Quite simply, we will see fewer PRC buildings delivered in exactly the places where people want them to be.<br /><br />To be clear, many investors in this new asset class will not engage with the space standards debate, fearing that a potential stigma of 'sub-standard' units would cast a long shadow over the sector as a whole. I get that, but at the same time this stance will undermine the huge opportunity that the sector offers to build more homes that people can afford to occupy in places and where our cities need them to be.<br /><br />The space standards review should be looking holistically at the benefits as well as the shortcomings they bring, with due consideration for the economics of delivery and what the market really wants. A 'Wall to Wall' review - if you like.</div></div>

The problem with Space Standards

JLL's 2015 survey reveals that first-time buyers prioritize location over space, willing to compromise on unit size for desired areas.

In conjunction with Pocket Living, JLL ran a research survey in 2015 to better understand what first-time buyers want. It turns out that space matters, but not that much.<br /><br />Out in front, by some margin, was location. Prospective purchasers knew where they wanted to be and would make concessions on other attributes of their wish list to get there. Turns out, unit size is less important than we think.

By Nick Whitten, Asssociate Director, JLL Residential Research<br /><br />The Government has this week unveiled three key measures to boost housebuilding, all of which place a welcome focus on increasing supply, rather than propping up demand.<br /><br />The first of the Government&rsquo;s measures is the &pound;3bn Home Building Fund designed to once again allow small builders to play their part in boosting housing supply. The Government is targeting 25,000 homes by 2020 and up to 225,000 homes in the longer term from this fund by providing financial support to small and medium sized companies &ndash; defined as those building fewer than 500 homes per annum.<br /><br />Prior to the global financial crisis, small builders were an important contributor to supply, delivering circa 50,000 homes per annum. However, this dropped to around 20,000 per annum after the recession as banking finance became more difficult to source.<br /><br />Innovation needed<br />Secondly, the Government has announced a &pound;2bn loan fund to accelerate development on public owned land. The key to the success of this initiative will be innovation. The Government wants to partner with private developers to deliver 15,000 homes by 2020 on surplus public sector land. It has said it will encourage developers to consider efficient techniques such as off-site building. The Government may want to consider whether it invests directly itself in off-site manufacturing. Just over 100 years ago Henry Ford pioneered the use of the production line which revolutionised the car industry. It is well documented the efficiencies that can be found from building off-site - manufacturing workers are estimated to be between 1.5 to 2 times more productive than construction workers.<br /><br />Brownfield housing<br />Finally, the Government has announced it will encourage urban regeneration through a planning presumption in favour of housing on brownfield land. There is a lack of available development land in the UK in locations where new housing is needed most. Over the past two decades there has been a trend towards urbanisation which has seen rapid population growth in many of the UK&rsquo;s towns and city centres. This has been driven by people choosing to live close to employment hubs and cultural and entertainment quarters. However, a lack of available housing has stifled those ambitions for some and driven up the cost of housing for others. A new presumption in favour of housing on urban brownfield land has the potential to be the most significant contributor to housing supply of all the new measures unveiled today &ndash; enabling housing development where people need and want it most.<br /><br />Must deliver pledges<br />The UK is in the midst of a housing crisis fuelled by an acute imbalance between supply and demand. Successive Governments have set national housebuilding targets &ndash; the current target stands at 1 million new homes in England by 2020, equivalent to 200,000 homes per annum. However, we have consistently failed to deliver that amount. The last time we built in excess of 200,000 homes in England was in the late 1970s when local authorities were a significant contributor to supply.<br /><br />It is absolutely right for Government to focus its policies on tackling the housing shortage ahead of supporting demand as has been the case in recent years and it must now ensure it can deliver on its big pledges.

Can Government deliver new trio of supply solutions?

The Government's new measures aim to boost housebuilding by focusing on increasing supply rather than demand.

The Government has this week unveiled three key measures to boost housebuilding, all of which place a welcome focus on increasing supply, rather than propping up demand.

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<div id="main"><div><div id="residentialcontent_0_LeftColumn"><div><p>The use of online platforms has allowed hybrid estate agencies to grow steadily in recent years - they now boast a 5% share of the UK&rsquo;s residential transactions.<br /><br />Hybrid agents, who combine online services alongside teams of local property directors, look set to play an increasing role in how the residential market operates. But will it be a leading role, or more supporting player?<br /><br />Russell Quirk, the founder of the UK&rsquo;s second largest hybrid agency&nbsp;<a href="https://www.emoov.co.uk/" target="_blank">eMoov.co.uk</a>, predicts that 20% of the overall market will be split by the top five hybrid operators by 2020. To put this into context, the UK&rsquo;s current largest estate agency is Countrywide Group with a 10% market share.&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2><b>Disintermediation</b></h2><p>But can a start-up company compete with an industry giant, let alone surpass it? The answer lies in disruptive innovation - by creating a new market and value network to displace the existing market.Technological innovation has led to some phenomenal success stories across a number of other industries in recent years. Uber is now the largest taxi firm in the world with a market cap in excess of traditional car giants such as Ford or General Motors; Airbnb now has more than 1.5m listings in 34,000 cities around the world; and Netflix effectively killed off the video rental market by offering on-demand TV streaming.<br /><br />Purplebricks is the UK&rsquo;s largest player in the hybrid estate agency space, with a 60% share of the market. Purplebricks, which was founded in 2014, describes itself as the fourth largest estate agency in the UK.<br /><br />Its business model sees it sell properties for a flat fee ranging from circa &pound;800-&pound;1,150 dependent on a property&rsquo;s postcode. It says that on a typical &pound;190,000 sale this would equate to a &pound;5,000 saving in agency fees.<br /><br /></p><h2><b>Online-only valuation difficulties</b></h2><p>But could the market grow in a purely online-only capacity?</p><p>There are a number of difficulties facing online-only operators in providing accurate local market valuations to customers. For instance, gaining a sufficient appreciation of a property&rsquo;s location and standard without ever setting foot through the front door could see valuations that are wholly inaccurate.<br /><br />The solution to this from hybrid agencies is to employ local experts who will take photographs, create a floorplan and write the description of a property before it is listed on the likes of Rightmove or Zoopla.<br /><br />Crucially, it is this kind of model that experts believe will prove successful in the &nbsp;immediate future, with a market perhaps dominated by a handful of major hybrid operators combining online and local agency services.&nbsp;<br /><br />And while the local human touch will underpin an agency&rsquo;s success in today&rsquo;s world, going forward, it is the online element which could become increasingly significant, particularly once the tech-savvy Generation Z &ndash; the cohort born from the late 90s onwards - begin to dominate the private rental and first time buyer markets</p></div><div><div><article data-sf-ec-immutable=""></article></div></div></div><div><div><header><h5></h5></header></div><div></div></div></div></div><footer><div><div><a href="http://residential.jll.co.uk/"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 575.4 255.1" width="66px"><g><path d="M344.6 51.5h-64.1v5.9c3.1.3 5.6.6 7.6 1.1 2.4.6 4.2 1.3 5.5 2.4 3.8 3.3 3.7 9.4 3.7 20.4v74.2c0 15.1 1.4 36.5-20.1 36.2-9.2-.1-18.6-6.7-21.5-18.6h-7.4c3.1 20 13.8 33.6 39.6 33.6h.2c21.9 0 41.5-10.1 41.5-44.4v-81c0-11.1-.1-16.9 3.7-20.2 2.4-2.1 4.5-3.1 11.2-3.8v-5.8zM418.2 51.5h-64.1V57.4c6.7.7 8.7 1.7 11.2 3.8 3.1 2.6 3.6 6.9 3.7 14.2V179c-.1 7.3-.7 11.6-3.7 14.2-2.4 2.1-4.5 3.1-11.2 3.8V202.9H451l10.2-29.6h-7.5c-7.4 16.3-19 18.2-29.5 18.2-8.6 0-14.3-.5-18.4-3.1-3.3-2.1-4.5-7.6-4.5-17V81.3c0-11.1-.1-17.2 3.7-20.4 2.4-2.1 6.5-2.9 13.2-3.5v-5.9z"></path><path d="M525 51.5h-64.1V57.4c6.7.7 8.7 1.7 11.2 3.8 3.1 2.6 3.6 6.9 3.7 14.2V179c-.1 7.3-.7 11.6-3.7 14.2-2.4 2.1-4.5 3.1-11.2 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Hybrid Estate Agents: How Big Can They Grow?

Hybrid estate agents, combining online services and local directors, now hold a 5% share of UK residential transactions and may play a larger future role.

The use of online platforms has allowed hybrid estate agencies to grow steadily in recent years - they now boast a 5% share of the UK&rsquo;s residential transactions.&nbsp;Hybrid agents, who combine online services alongside teams of local property directors, look set to play an increasing role in how the residential market operates. But will it be a leading role, or more supporting player?

https://res.cloudinary.com/jll-global-olm-np/image/upload/v1569580168/resi/gb/cms/Blogs/Photos/Hybrid_estate_agents.jpg

<div id="main"><div><div id="residentialcontent_0_LeftColumn"><div>By Adam Challis, Head of Residential Research, JLL<br /><br />The housing affordability crisis is vexing, not least because the solution seems clear.<br /><br />"Build more" says I - and most other commentators, neatly tucking in the roles of planning, land, alongside the chose-your-own hobby-horse of SME builders/ Private Rented Communities/ housebuilder expansion amongst a host of other notable solutions that ought to get the job done. Sadly while all of these private sector-led solutions have merit and all will help; none will be the silver bullet.<br /><br />Ramping up ambition further, many see the allure of a new generation of publicly-funded housebuilding as too attractive to ignore. Signals from the new Chancellor suggest we may well have seen the end of strict austerity. Could this be the harbinger of a new era of strategic housing investment?<br /><br />This big idea would of course allow us to dodge the thorny problems of trying to induce the private sector to ramp up delivery. Maybe we could even re-engage direct commissioning, as we all know that housebuilders 'just don't want to build more.' Ah, were it just that easy.<br /><br />Housebuilders deliver to a margin, not a volume. Unless sales rates ratchet up to twice the current pace, housebuilders cannot reasonably be expected to double output. How this simple truth continues to be overlooked is baffling. There is no reason to expect a serious step change from this group.<br /><br />Direct commissioning sounds like it may have more promise, as it could carve out some of the profit margin to deliver higher volumes at lower cost. Great stuff, except that it requires a new legion of quasi-public sector workers to manage and direct procurement into a supply chain that is, to be candid, about half the size that it needs to be. Oh - and relying on the same supply chain means we're no further forward, just creating greater risks for existing private sector players in the market, further dis-incentivising private sector expansion, particularly from those SMEs.</div><blockquote>"Housebuilders deliver to a margin, not a volume. Unless sales rates ratchet up to twice the current pace, housebuilders cannot reasonably be expected to double output. How this simple truth continues to be overlooked is baffling."</blockquote><cite>Adam Challis Head of Residential Research, JLL</cite><div><div>OK - let's assume that over a short few years that the public sector is able to ramp up investment to sufficient levels. At the same time, the industry develops the confidence in this new public sector programme to invest in capacity and is in the position to deliver on this policy promise. Is this even possible? If it is, would it be the answer to our collective prayers?<br /><br />Yes - those are very big assumptions but no, unfortunately they are not the biggest problem.<br /><br />Proponents of a new wave of council house building 'just like we did in the 50s and 60s' are overlooking the real elephant in the room. Back then, in the post war era, the UK was in post-war reconstruction and expansion mode. House building enjoyed widespread support and philosophically, there wasn't a NIMBYist in sight.<br /><br />Today, that's not so true.<br /><br />To double the rate of construction requires - broadly - a doubling of available development land. Until the country is united in the universal truth of the need for more homes, alongside a pro-rata responsibility to absorb some of this stock locally, it will make little difference whether the schemes backers are public or private sector; existing communities will be having none of it. In the face of localism, I say good luck with that.<br /><br />Chancellor For a Day<br />If I were Chancellor, and eventually I was able to turn my attention to housing, the first thing I would do is to stop misleading the public with ambitious, nonsensical targets. Can't happen, won't happen. Stop breeding policy short-termism and focus on getting the fundamentals in place.<br /><br />Push harder on the public estate and let those cash-strapped public bodies - especially local authorities - keep more of the upside from land sales.<br /><br />Controversially, I also happen to think the London Mayor is on the right track. Moving towards a higher rate of AH delivery, linked with permissions in principle, is a savvy way to move with the grain of the market to achieve public good objectives.<br /><br />For what it's worth, a bit more direct investment in affordable housing would also be on the cards</div></div></div><div><div><header><h5></h5></header></div><div></div><div></div></div></div></div><footer><div><div><a href="http://residential.jll.co.uk/"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 575.4 255.1" width="66px"><g><path d="M344.6 51.5h-64.1v5.9c3.1.3 5.6.6 7.6 1.1 2.4.6 4.2 1.3 5.5 2.4 3.8 3.3 3.7 9.4 3.7 20.4v74.2c0 15.1 1.4 36.5-20.1 36.2-9.2-.1-18.6-6.7-21.5-18.6h-7.4c3.1 20 13.8 33.6 39.6 33.6h.2c21.9 0 41.5-10.1 41.5-44.4v-81c0-11.1-.1-16.9 3.7-20.2 2.4-2.1 4.5-3.1 11.2-3.8v-5.8zM418.2 51.5h-64.1V57.4c6.7.7 8.7 1.7 11.2 3.8 3.1 2.6 3.6 6.9 3.7 14.2V179c-.1 7.3-.7 11.6-3.7 14.2-2.4 2.1-4.5 3.1-11.2 3.8V202.9H451l10.2-29.6h-7.5c-7.4 16.3-19 18.2-29.5 18.2-8.6 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Housing Solutions For A New Chancellor

The housing affordability crisis demands solutions like increased planning and building, yet no single approach will entirely solve it.

The housing affordability crisis is vexing, not least because the solution seems clear. "Build more", says I - and most other commentators, neatly tucking in the roles of planning, land, SME builders/ Private Rented Communities and housebuilders amongst a host of other notable solutions that ought to get the job done. Sadly while all of these private sector-led solutions have merit and all will help; none will be the silver bullet.

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<div>It seems hard to believe today, but town planning used to be an Olympic event &ndash; held for four consecutive Games between 1928 and 1948. At the Los Angeles Olympics in 1932 John Hughes won gold for Team GB with a design for a stadium and sports and recreation centre for the City of Liverpool. True story.<br /><br />Fast forward to Rio 2016 and following TeamGB&rsquo;s most successful overseas Games, there is concern from some about the real legacy of the 2012 London Olympics.<br /><br />Some have queried who new Legacy housing is targeted at, citing the huge disparities between sales prices and average local incomes in boroughs like Newham. Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has also questioned whether affordable housing delivery, and indeed housing delivery generally, is as high as it should be.<br /><br />The local community is also not convinced. For example, a petition has been raised to stop the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) from demolishing part of Vittoria Wharf to make way for a pedestrian footbridge linking Hackney Wick with new Legacy housing. Those petitioning say that the LLDC has explained that building the bridge will benefit the community, but contend that they are the community and that they are being deleted in the process. They have a point.<br /><br />The real question should be, is there a bigger responsibility to deliver better development, which makes it befitting of an Olympic Legacy? And what makes development better?</div><blockquote>"In total, there is planning permission for circa 18,000 new homes within the LLDC&rsquo;s boundaries, with the quantum of affordable housing above the 28% London average for 2014/15. &nbsp;There are also plans for creating space for businesses, for new university campuses, for new museums; many amenities to make a place alive and successful."</blockquote><cite>Caroline Harper Associate Director, Planning and Development, JLL</cite><div><div>The dramatic transformation of Stratford and what is now the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is indisputable. There&rsquo;s award winning architecture. There are terrific sports venues which are hosting big events like the track cycling and athletics World Championships. There&rsquo;s a huge and busy shopping mall. The former athlete&rsquo;s village has been converted into East Village, providing just shy of 3,000 residential units of which roughly 50% are affordable and most of the remainder are for private rent. In total, there is planning permission for circa 18,000 new homes within the LLDC&rsquo;s boundaries, with the quantum of affordable housing above the 28% London average for 2014/15. There are also plans for creating space for businesses, for new university campuses, for new museums; many amenities to make a place alive and successful.<br /><br />Some of the problems lie, perhaps, in understanding what the Legacy is meant to be. Part of this is a commitment to east London&rsquo;s regeneration, but the practicalities of who benefits from this are pretty broad-brush. The Government&rsquo;s 2015 Policy Paper talks about putting plans into action to create a lasting economic, sporting and cultural legacy that will benefit the whole country. The 2014 Long Term Vision produced by the Government and GLA talks of securing social and economic benefits for the whole city (of London). This is echoed in the London Plan, which looks to secure a lasting Legacy for Londoners. Then there&rsquo;s the strategic regeneration framework developed by the Olympic host boroughs and endorsed by both the GLA and Government, which aims for the communities who hosted the 2012 Games to have the same social and economic chances as their neighbours across London. Arguably a Legacy which delivers for the country, for Londoners and for local communities is nigh on impossible.<br /><br />In this context, how will Mayor Khan fulfil his Mayoral election manifesto to rebuild London&rsquo;s Olympic Legacy? I&rsquo;m not convinced it&rsquo;s enough to up the quantum of affordable housing. The LLDC is a Mayoral Development Corporation and, following widespread compulsory purchasing in the run up to 2012, it controls a lot of the land within its boundaries. There is scope therefore for the Mayor to really involve himself in the Legacy. But in so doing it has to be more practical and more nuanced than simply shooting for undefined benefits for everyone.</div></div>

Is London’s Olympic legacy worthy of a medal?

Concerns about the 2012 London Olympics' housing legacy include affordability and delivery issues, raised by local residents and Mayor Sadiq Khan.

Following Team GB&rsquo;s most successful overseas Games, there is concern from some about the real legacy of the 2012 London Olympics. Some have queried who new Legacy housing is targeted at, citing the huge disparities between sales prices and average local incomes in boroughs like Newham. Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has also questioned whether affordable housing delivery, and indeed housing delivery generally, is as high as it should be.

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