Urban Homeworks’ Post

When Saskatoon Land brought this report forward, I almost missed it, because it went through SPC on Finance, not PD&CS. It seems odd, that a report recommending the sale of city owned land at FULL market value for affordable housing, and tied to HAF, would show up here. Good thing I looked. And good thing I understood HAF, because this wasn’t sitting well with me at all. It didn’t make sense. Other municipalities were coming up with innovative and creative ways to gift, lease, discount and sell their land holdings for affordable housing, why would Saskatoon not try some of the very same approaches? Because, in a nutshell, money. It’s a long story as to how we got where we are today with our land holdings, for another time. But, suffice it to say that Council considered my suggestions, and the end result is very satisfactory. This will help to increase the supply of affordable housing in Saskatoon and is very complementary to the zoning amendments approved yesterday. Bold, transformative change is needed, and Saskatoon is definitely getting that message. Wonderful news, indeed!

Plan properly, build well, and even the NIMBYs can’t object to the solution to the housing crisis https://lnkd.in/exCJkU7G #Property #HousingMarket #NewBuilds

€7.5million allocated to Carlow and Kilkenny county councils to transform 32 vacant and derelict buildings into 123 new homes: There's €1.5million for Carlow and €6million for Kilkenny

“Are new towns the answer to the UK’s housebuilding crisis? Past experience suggests that the new towns policy can accelerate development in certain areas. Government should combine it with wider national reform to make the planning system more efficient” #ukhousing #housebuilding #socialhousing #affordablehousing #urbanplanning https://lnkd.in/eNiGx9a3

"Angela Rayner has been warned that the government could risk missing its housing targets by placing too much emphasis on creating new towns across England. The deputy prime minister announced plans last month for the “largest housebuilding programme since the postwar period”, kickstarted by the construction of a generation of new towns. Designed to help meet the government’s target to build 1.5m homes over the next five years, the plan is inspired by the creation in England of dozens of communities after the second world war, including at Stevenage, Warrington and Milton Keynes. However, analysis shared with the Guardian by the urban policy thinktank Centre for Cities shows the programme only accounted for 3.3% of all new housebuilding in the 40 years after the postwar 1946 New Towns Act"#ukhousing #housebuilding #socialhousing #affordablehousing #urbanplanning

€7.5million allocated to Carlow and Kilkenny county councils to transform 32 vacant and derelict buildings into 123 new homes: There's €1.5million for Carlow and €6million for Kilkenny

⛪🏚 It's simple. Our proposal is for small-scale development in line with the existing built form – such as houses, duplexes, or townhouses. This scale of housing should not require a full impact assessable planning approval, and the YIFBY amendment would allow for this type of development to be treated as Accepted Development (meeting certain criteria). Re: other development pathways, for e.g., the State-Facilitated Development pathway, this is a commendable initiative for larger, more complex developments. However, for small residential projects, the proposal of removing the cost and time associated with planning approvals presents a promising and sensible solution. It paves the way for a cluster or suite of smaller projects, unlikely to be contested, to move in one line or as part of a pipeline of development projects, finding further efficiency in design, finance, and delivery. This allows for the state-wide activation of suitable sites instead of focusing on site-by-site opportunities. ‘We note some support for this approach and will continue to work with all Parties contesting the state election to deliver these initiatives as part of the wider bold housing plan needed for Queensland.’ If you're interested and want to discuss the approach. Please reach out; we've literally been talking to everyone. #FaithBased #CommunityHousing #HousingSupply #Queensland https://lnkd.in/g9v68h5u

ADUs can help the Inland Empire meet housing needs

Another day, another refusal at committee. Well done to Michael Gove and The Conservative Party party for denying another 100 families/single people/couples etc the ability to have a home in Arun District. Courtesy of the additional level of protection now afforded to made Neighbourhood Plans a site with no technical constraints or issues was refused at committee. The proposal also delivered over 10% BNG, had a low density of 14 DPH (which was apparently high for the area) and offered up orchards, planting of over 200 new trees and 30% affordable housing. Our application received over 55 letters of support but of course they were ignored instead focusing on the 97 letters of objection from the already well-housed.   The committee didn’t like it when it was pointed out to them (by me I hasten to add in my speech) that in the last three years the number of people on the housing waiting list has grown from 1,015 to over 2,100 (we had to FOI to obtain the figures) and that in the area covering the NP the numbers on the waiting list is close to 150. Committee members felt that problems with accessing affordable housing was a misnomer………   They further didn’t like it when they were reminded that Arun have never been able to demonstrate a 5YLHS and their HDT is below 75%. It is fair to say that they have, and are consistently failing to deliver enough homes on every measurable metric. Apparently the 5YHLS issue is not their fault but that of developers. Oh, and of course, they don’t have an up-to-date plan either.   So well done Michael Gove, the nuanced change regarding para 14 in the National Planning Policy NIMBY framework has denied yet more people the opportunity to have a home. But alas, yours and Rishi’s latest sound bites and tinkering to appease the shire MPs and the I’m alright Jack brigade will no doubt solve the cataclysmic housing crisis by allowing the conversion of disused shops and bringing forward brownfield sites (haven’t we always had a brownfield first regime?) in the largest urban areas, many of which have never come close to achieving their current housing targets! And of course, we can all add a mansard to help solve the housing crisis too! All great ideas Govey that will deliver a real mix of housing types with gardens in the right locations, high levels of onsite BNG, no clean-up costs etc……… Once again a shining example of the complete lack of understanding within government of just how bad the housing crisis is and just how broken the system is. I read somewhere recently that the last time the inequality gap was as bad as it is now in real terms the year was 1876 - well done to The Conservative Party for dragging us back to the year that the telephone was invented by a young Mr Bell.

ADUs can help the Inland Empire meet housing needs