Lend Lease / ComRes Land and Regeneration Index

ComRes interviewed 200 officers in local and central government across Britain by telephone between 20th January and 28th February 2014. 150 respondents were senior local planning officers, while 50 were responsible for managing the estates in the following organisations:

• The NHS (44 respondents);
• Other central government bodies (6 respondents).

 

Date Published: 01 May 2014

Categories: Economy | Policy Makers | Public Sector | UK

Description

The number of state bodies bringing forward publicly owned land for development in the next 12 months will rise by more than a fifth, according to a major new report.

The inaugural Lend Lease/ComRes Land and Regeneration Index interviewed 200 public sector officials with direct responsibility for land holdings. Three quarters of officers (76 per cent) expect to release publicly owned land for development in the next 12 months compared with just 63 per cent who had done so during the previous year – a rise of more than a fifth.

The new public sector land will predominately be used for residential development. Of those respondents who plan to bring forward publicly owned land for development in the next year, 89 per cent said that it would be used for social housing (compared with 62 per cent in the last 12 months); and 86 per cent said that it would be used for private housing (compared with 59 per cent in the last 12 months).

The sharp rise in the number of public sector officials expecting to bring forward land for social and private housing respectively (27 percentage points on both measures) suggests that the Government’s long-stated objective of boosting the supply of new homes by releasing more state-owned land is finally being realised.

The Rt Hon Eric Pickles MP, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, said: “I welcome this new survey, which shows the scope for releasing surplus and redundant public sector property. This will help provide more land for new homes and ensure value for taxpayers’ money. Central government is delivering on its promise to release thousands of acres of brownfield land, and all public sector bodies need to follow our example, so we can build more homes and safeguard environmentally protected land like the Green Belt.”

 

• The NHS (44 respondents);
• Other central government bodies (6 respondents).