Comment

A ‘standard method’ that works for all

With planning reforms on the horizon we are looking forward to seeing whether the policy paper contains proposals on the standard method for assessing housing needs. We believe there is a positive way forward for this means of calculating housing need and have made the case for a solution that works for all parts of the country.

Since Government confirmed that it would be reviewing the standard method we have been working on alternative approaches. The objective is to boost housing supply in ways that support the Government’s levelling up agenda. 

We have prepared a briefing on why we feel it is time to move away from household projections as the starting point and to use existing housing stock and economic performance as the foundation for a new approach.

  

This briefing, originally produced in July and used as a basis for seeking to build consensus around the principles for change, summarises the shortcomings of the current method and demonstrates how, with revision, it can be made more effective in addressing the housing crisis, and in doing so support economic recovery.

5 August 2020