GORDON BROWN is preparing to sweep aside planning controls in villages and market towns to allow the biggest rural house building programme for a generation. Local authorities are to be controversially ordered to adopt a relaxed approach to the building of new homes in areas where planning permission has traditionally been refused.
 
The government has concluded that protecting the environment should no longer be the overriding consideration when decisions are made about whether to allow development in areas where locals are struggling to afford homes.  

Under reforms expected to be unveiled this month, councils will be told to:  

•    earmark new building sites in every village and hamlet where affordable housing is
needed
•    use sweeping powers to overrule normal planning curbs in protected areas
•    provide incentives for farmers to sell land to developers  
•    create a generation of new communities on the outskirts of market towns, similar to
Poundbury, the Prince of Wales’s “model village”.  

The changes are aimed at helping the government to achieve its target of building 3m new homes by 2020. All the main political parties agree that the extra housing is needed, although the building programme is likely to be delayed by the recession.  

About 16,000 small towns, villages and hamlets across England, and dozens of market towns, could be affected by what is being described by ministers as a “fundamental shake-up” of rural planning policy.  
The changes follow a government-commissioned investigation into housing shortages in the English countryside by Matthew Taylor, a Liberal Democrat MP.  
His report, published last year, was fiercely critical of “restrictive” planning policies in the countryside, which he believes are turning many villages in the most sought after areas of the countryside into exclusive enclaves of the rich and retired, as locals are priced out. In areas such as Teignbridge, Devon, characterised by “chocolate box villages”, average house prices are 13.5 times the average income.  
Taylor said councils should be encouraged to use existing powers to grant exceptional permission to build affordable housing in villages. The homes would have covenants so they could be sold only to local workers and their prices would be capped so they would remain affordable.  
Taylor also attacked the burgeoning number of faceless housing estates on the fringes of market towns, saying local authorities should instead encourage the development of small communities, such as Poundbury, on the outskirts of market towns.

Margaret Beckett, the housing secretary, is ready to back Taylor’s key recommendations. Local planning officers will be told that villagers must support new housing in their area. There will be a strong government emphasis on “sensitive” development, typically involving a small number of new properties in each location.  
Beckett held a private meeting with Taylor before Christmas at which she expressed strong support for the measures. Her department yesterday confirmed that an announcement is imminent.  
A Whitehall source said: “We are ready to act on the thrust of Taylor’s recommendations. Our view is that he is on the money.  

“Of course it will be controversial but it’s not something we have cooked up. It’s something people in the countryside have long been calling for.”  

While some villagers will be concerned about the potential impact of new building on their doorstep, countryside protection groups are broadly supportive of Taylor’s recommendations. However, they have urged caution, warning that significant relaxation of planning curbs is unlikely to go hand in hand with sensitive development.  
More than 6m people in Britain live in rural communities with populations of less than 3,000 where local authorities rarely allow new properties to be built. The government is expected to announce incentives for landowners to release sites for the new homes.  

In market towns, local authorities will be encouraged to consider sacrificing green fields to give newly built properties bigger gardens, instead of what Taylor describes as “useless grass strips” where there is no space for children to play or trees to be planted.  
The government is expected to argue that such fields are not normally accessible to the public and represent only a tiny fraction of agricultural land in England.  

Tom Oliver, head of rural policy at the Campaign to Protect Rural England, said: “Rural planning policy has served the country well for 60 years and its intelligent evolution is crucial.  
“A strong planning system which guides high quality development to the right places and builds consensus in existing rural communities is vital for Taylor’s vision to be delivered.”  
Additional reporting: Brendan Montague.

  Don't believe the pessimists who predict a drop of 40 per cent. They forget we don't have the right homes in the right places

The housing bubble has burst, but it has burst simultaneously with stock markets. However, the underlying demand for housing is clearly revealed by the continued increase in rents in most areas.

In the mid-19th century, big names in the building business were failing. Developers on the Grosvenor Estate in Belgravia, London, such as Thomas Cubitt were in financial trouble and Thomas and Joseph Cundy went bankrupt. A speculative bubble in railway stocks burst in 1847, causing a great slump. No doubt, Victorian pundits complained of the excesses of the speculators and called for an end to boom and bust, greater regulation of investments and more accountability among those responsible.

More than a century, and many booms and busts later, this is exactly what was said after the Barber boom and the subsequent banking crisis, property-market crash and recession of 1974; and after the Lawson boom, housing-market crash and recession of the early 1990s. The aftermath of the Brown boom looks like being no exception. After the over-exuberance of the growth years, there always seems to be an outbreak of sober under-exuberance.

It is in this soil that the seeds of the next boom and bust will be sown. If land supply is finite (and new housing supply is set for one of the biggest downturns in recent history), land will always behave in the same way at the end of an economic cycle, being driven up in value along with other asset prices. In the face of such rises, human nature ensures that purchasing turns speculative - and another bubble is born.

Where will that recovery come from? In previous downturns overseas investors have been first to return to the fray, encouraged by a weak pound. Some are eyeing the exchange rate even now. They may be joined by domestic investors who are worried about the security of funds in banks and see land as a better prospect than the stock market or bonds.

What they will not be buying are flats in over-supplied city centres, where recent investors have caught a cold. As in all recoveries, the best will out-perform the rest.

Business Land and Property

‘NEW plateau’ appears to be the phrase of choice for many farm agents this autumn.
After the frenzy of the spring where prices spiralled weekly, if not daily, we have entered a period of relative calm following the storm. The spring market saw some enormous premiums being paid for commercial land in some parts of the country.

Recent deals and recorded statistics show the average price of commercial arable farmland across the country has increased in the order of 70 per cent in three years.

There are few other assets which can boast such a return. The premiums paid in the spring were just that, premiums. The underlying upward trend in the value of land over the last four years continues apace.

So who is buying? The majority of the large funds and many Irish investors and Inheritance Tax purchasers who have searched for extended periods for a suitable commercial farm to buy.

Such buyers recognise there will be further increases in the value of farmland over the coming years.

What of the future? Most agents are predicting we will see farmland values remain at a similar level until growth returns to the market during 2009.

Limited supply and unrelenting demand appear to ensure this will be the case. The weakening pound will also be an interesting aspect to the farmland market in the short to medium-term because it is likely to encourage further overseas investors.

In times of nervousness, capital is always directed towards secure investments and there can be fewer more secure than the oldest type of asset of all, land.

Kevin Prince, Strutt & Parker

By Howard Walsh
DESPITE a third quarter fall, average farmland values remain well above those of even 12 months ago

Cox Ford Properties is considering re-branding its name, whilst retaining Regal Heights for the residences and Indian Tree for the PGA golf course... If you think you can come up with an appropriate name please submit below. If we select that name you will receive a 2 weeks free stay at out Castle in Austria.

The Valuation Office Agency, a government body and executive agency of the HM Revenue & Customs, reports that there appears to be little indication that the direction of the market is likely to change. Land remains in strong demand, whilst supply remains well below that level of demand. The Government Valuation Office Agency forecasts the value of farmland rising for the next 5 years. Furthermore, if the economy does become more unsettled, agricultural land always has a substantial attraction to investors, resulting from its security as a capital asset. Its resistance to inflation and tangible nature should ensure land remains in strong demand.

Business News | FARMLAND values have soared at the highest rate since records began, says the latest survey from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). The first half of 2008 has seen average prices rise by 24 per cent.

The group are considering the take-over or a joint venture with an international management training company for internal development purposes and external income streams. The well known company is British and was formed in 2005.

Farmland looks set to escape both the credit crunch and profits squeeze.
Both land values and arable returns grew sharply in the last 12 months. Landowners can expect their core asset to continue to appreciate, despite economic gloom and soaring input costs as demand for UK land is expected to continue.

Farmland still an attractive investment as values continue to increase.
The average value of farmland has continued to increase over the past year. The next year is expected to see further growth as   investors continue to look at land as an alternative to property to guarantee them a good return.

The Hotel division is considering an opportunity to use certain rooms in the group’s hotels on an owner-investment basis, where Private Clients will have the opportunity to buy a luxury hotel room, staying free of charge at any one of the group’s three Hotels for 45 nights and seven nights at the Castle each year, whilst in the interim receiving a percentage of rental income from the room’s use during the rest of the time. The hotels and castle are freehold and the group is considering the owner investor will receive a 75 year period.

Investors discover lucrative haven in Britain's farmland
The price of farmland is rising at its fastest rate for more than 30 years as wealthy city dwellers and overseas buyers seek a slice of idyllic rural England and investors rush to move their money out  of stocks & shares because of the credit crunch.

Arable values rose by 28% according to the latest rural land market survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
"Rising commodity prices have resulted in a bit of a feeding frenzy for farmland as farmers compete with investors and foreign farmers for arable land," said RICS rural spokeswoman Sue Steer.
The huge surge follows a 23% hike during the first half of last year.
Competition
RICS said improved commodity prices had encouraged farmers to expand production and compete with other potential buyers in a market where demand was far outstripping supply.
Lifestyle buyers, however, were expected to retreat from the market, said Ms Steer. "City bonuses are likely to be a lot lower as the credit crunch continues to hit the financial sector."
By Andrew Shirley