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Sir Bob Kerslake’s UK2070 Commission’s final report is essential reading for anyone with an interest in the Government’s ‘levelling-up’ agenda and what it means for the country. It’s too easy to use terms such as ‘seminal’ when a document of this nature is published, but once in a while something comes along which genuinely deserves that accolade. This is one of them, and the culmination of the UK2070 Commission’s work should be seen as the blueprint for rebalancing, as it sets out the steps needed to roll back decades of policies which have left UK with regional inequalities which are some of the worst in the developed world. How did we ever get to a position where between 2006 and 2018 average household wealth fell by 12% in the North East and East Midlands, but grew by nearly 80% in London and by over 30% in South East England?
The scale of change proposed is little short of revolutionary – indeed ‘Make no little plans’ is its title, a quote from 19th century planner Daniel Burnham who was responsible for the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago (I had to look that one up!). According to Sir Bob and his expert team, nothing less will do, with the report’s ‘go big or go home’ mantra striking a memorable chord. This is because of the deep seated and long-term nature of the problem the Government is now trying to address and the extent of the disconnect between its welcome ambitions and the policies it has inherited.
There will be no easy fix which a few eye-catching infrastructure projects will solve. Rather levelling-up will require a concerted effort by Governments and their partners over decades, underpinned by better devolved institutions, more equitable investment and fully aligned policies across a range of sectors. And there is a real urgency behind the report’s call to action, because doing nothing is not a neutral option. Without radical change, the Commission argues that divergence will continue and the gap between North and South, town and city, coast and metropolis will open into a yawning chasm.
So, what’s to be done? The Commission makes ten clear recommendations to Government. They’re all worth reading, and can be found here, however a couple immediately catch the eye from a housing perspective.
Firstly, it’s good to see a specific action on housing – so often missed in this type of report. It is proposed that housing is positioned as essential infrastructure, with investment aligned to wider economic goals. In forming its recommendations, the Commission has quoted work undertaken by Homes for the North (and others) making a powerful case to rethink housing strategy, moving from a backward-looking set of policies to ones that reflect economic ambition. It also makes the important point that a rebalanced approach to housing investment is as good for the South as it is for the North, taking pressure off overheated markets, and creating more sustainable, low carbon solutions.
The Commission’s call for a pan-regional approach and, ultimately, the development of a National Spatial Plan for England is also compelling. Of course, locality is important, and the level at which housing delivery should always take place. However, if we are to really think big, some important strategic decisions about planning and investment transcend local authority and combined authority areas and need to be underpinned by a pan-regional framework. This is exactly the scale of thinking that is happening closer to London in areas such as the Oxford-Cambridge Arc and the Thames Estuary, and guess what, this is where the lion’s share of the money is going from strategic pots such as the Housing Infrastructure Fund, whilst investment in most areas of the North (and much of the Midlands and South West) is artificially capped at 20% of the total. By stealth, an unspoken national spatial investment strategy is emerging, but one that is at odds with the Northern Powerhouse and Midlands Engine rhetoric.
This is why we’re ramping up our work at Homes for the North, with an active research programme looking at issues such as the impact of Treasury Green Book thinking, the effect of the Homes England 80:20 funding rule and the standard methodology for determining planning numbers. We will use this evidence to work with Government to ensure that housing plays a central role in an invigorated Northern Powerhouse strategy based on a policy framework which is not only just and fair, but also economically sound.
Hugh Owen
Homes for the North
Director of Strategy and Public Affairs, Riverside
