Next week Judith Salomon and I in the Pocket team will be presenting new research on small sites at the Create Streets conference in conjunction with the think tank Onward. We’ve been working hard throughout the summer to get the research into shape – hence the quietness on this blog – with our research partners at the excellent Litchfields. I am very pleased to be launching the Wednesday next and I do encourage readers to register for the conference here.
So why undertake a research exercise on small sites? Well, there has been a sustained decline in housing delivery on small sites over several decades. SME developers are now building just one in ten new homes in the UK, compared to a peak of nearly half in the early 1980s. In London, there was a 50% decrease in small housing developments between 2006 and 2016 and the planning system was recently voted as the top barrier to building in a survey of the SME sector.
There is no hard evidence explaining such a decline. Instead, there are plenty with views. The HBF under the direction of the impressive David O’Leary did some interesting research a few years ago and it’s well worth a read but it doesn’t provide all the answers.
The team wanted to understand what is happening in the planning system and to see if there were any trends common across all small sites. To try and get some answers we have undertaken a detailed analysis of the only small sites data set in the country – the London development database. Our findings are fascinating and will offer insight and policy recommendations to the Government’s consultation on its Planning White Paper.
I will be writing up a full summary next week so watch this space and I hope to see some of you at the conference. If you’re intrigued by what’s happening to small sites and why small developers have become an endangered species: then keep an eye on this blog.
