One of the main themes running thorough the Conservative Party’s manifesto, and now one of the central elements of the new coalition government’s ‘Programme for Government’ is the idea that Britain should move away from the old ’top down’ style of governance where decisions stemmed from Westminster, to a new ‘bottom up’ system, where powers are devolved to local government, and local communities. 

For those of us working in the property sector, the first indication of what this paradigm shift would mean for us, in practice came in the Queen’s Speech on 25 May with the announcement of the Decentralisation and Localism Bill.

The Bill was pronounced as being introduced to:

“devolve greater powers to councils and neighbourhoods and give local communities control over housing and planning decisions”.

The headline grabbing abolition of Home Information Packs certainly took most of the attention but on closer inspection the bill has some major ramifications for the sector including:

·         The abolition of Infrastructure Planning Commission

·         The return of decision making powers on areas such as planning and housing to local councils by abolishing Regional Spatial Strategies 

The benefits of this obviously lie at community level. Local people will have more input into what is developed in their area and presumably have a better feel for what is required in their neighbourhoods. However the impact on developers keen to carry on developing in already difficult market will be significant and not necessarily so positive. 

There is a concern that in times of economic uncertainty developers will be reluctant to commit to projects which seem to be contingent on the whims of community support rather than seemingly more detached and solid policies based on regional strategy which plans for 15 – 20 years hence. It also follows, that while communities themselves may think that they know what’s best for them, this does not always sit comfortably with larger social necessities, such as social housing projects which are not always popular.  

Furthermore, with cuts to public sector spending looming to deal with the other political hot topic, the budget deficit, there is a genuine concern that local councils will not have the financial resources to manage a more active role. 

There has always been a tension at the heart of British politics as to how active a role the state should take, and it appears that this lives on in the Decentralisation and Localism Bill. There is no doubt that the bill will necessitate a change in focus with local interests and views certainly taking on more importance but it remains to be seen whether this can translate into a positive outcome for both developers and local communities. 

For more information on these issues please contact

Rachel Bickerton

or your usual Lewis Silkin contact