黑洞社区

Grant Shapps is in a little bit of a flap when we meet. He鈥檚 running 15 minutes late for the 45 minutes we鈥檝e scheduled, and hasn鈥檛 booked a room for the photography. 鈥淚鈥檓 sorry,鈥� he says, 鈥渁nd I鈥檓 afraid I really can鈥檛 stay any later because I鈥檝e got shadow Cabinet.鈥� As we rush outside to grab photos before the light goes 鈥� I punt questions as he gamely tries not to shiver in the cold 鈥� it quickly becomes clear that his life is a constant flurry of activity. He talks and moves quickly, doling out practised charm with efficiency. Somehow during our brief half hour, he takes three phone calls and checks a dozen emails on his BlackBerry. Not a second, it seems, is idle. Never was the old clich茅 of minister in a hurry more apt 鈥� except for the fact, of course, he isn鈥檛 a minister. Not yet.

But by June, he probably will be. And while you can鈥檛 question his energy, many question his policies. Barring disaster, the Tories will next week lay out the final piece in their housing policy puzzle: a planning green paper. At the centre of this will be proposals to sweep away regional housing targets and allow councils to choose how many homes they build.

Many housebuilders think this policy, coming from a man who is waging campaigns against new homes and a planned incinerator in his constituency, doesn鈥檛 spell a rosy future. But Shapps says he is a passionate advocate for constructing more homes, and that the financial incentives the Tories would introduce (see factfile, below) would see previously Nimby councils falling over themselves to build.

Nevertheless the industry鈥檚 view is pretty much summed up by a remark by one guest overheard after Shapps鈥� speech at the NHBC鈥檚 annual lunch last autumn: 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 doubt his sincerity that his plan will work. But he鈥檚 barking mad, of course.鈥� So what exactly are his plans and how does he defend himself from this charge?

Shapps certainly thinks that view is unfair, and comes from a failure to see his policies in the round. There is more to it, he says, than the abolition of housing targets and the introduction of financial incentives. Alongside this, he wants to bring a presumption in favour of development in to the planning system, which would be achieved through secondary legislation. This means that unless a local authority has specific reasons why a planning application shouldn鈥檛 be approved, such as it sitting in an area identified in the local plan as not for development, it will have to approve it. He says: 鈥淯nless a council has written in its plan 鈥榳e won鈥檛 have any building here鈥�, having carried out a proper assessment of the needs, there will be a presumption in favour. It seems to me we鈥檝e had a situation whereby planning鈥檚 been difficult to obtain and it鈥檚 been the locals who are stopping you. We鈥檙e proposing a situation whereby planning鈥檚 easier to obtain because we鈥檝e helped get the locals on side.鈥�

This move would also mean councils would have to finalise their plans quickly to avoid a development free-for-all, and wouldn鈥檛 be able to block development through inaction. Local plans would be stripped down to make them easier for councils to complete.

Planning is not the only area Shapps wants to focus on. He promises that the final technical details of the Code for Sustainable Homes would be settled in the first few weeks of a Tory administration, giving builders certainty about what standards they have to build to. The government鈥檚 Lifetime Homes standard would not be compulsory, and Hips would be abolished. Shadow chancellor George Osborne has promised that first-time buyers would be exempt from stamp duty on purchases of up to 拢250,000.

While describing his plans for the future, Shapps is also quick to point out the failures of the Labour administration, under which the time taken to get planning permission has rocketed to 15 months, according to the Home Builders Federation (HBF), and fewer social homes have been built each year than when Margaret Thatcher was in power 鈥� and this was even before the recession. Addressing the industry he says: 鈥淲e recognise that you guys have had a tough time. I can鈥檛 remember a time when a party in opposition was offering the building world so much, for so little in return.鈥�

Unfortunately this is still a statement that makes most housebuilders choke on their cornflakes. Former housing minister Nick Raynsford last month hit out at Shapps鈥� 鈥渦naffordable鈥� plans, branding them 鈥渃ompletely non-credible鈥� because the Treasury would not be able to afford them. Shapps hits back: 鈥淗is job is to rubbish our proposals. My challenge to him and to Labour is that how come after 13 years we鈥檙e in the mess that we鈥檙e in? They obviously haven鈥檛 had the answers up until now. Things have gone horribly wrong, and it鈥檚 a bit rich taking lessons from those people.鈥�

One of the HBF鈥檚 principal concerns is over what will happen in the interim, while the new system is bedding down, as they say shire authorities are already putting planning on hold in anticipation of the housing targets being abolished. Shapps鈥� plan is to simply make the changes quickly through ministerial directive to minimise any hiatus. He says: 鈥淪adly I think the great hiatus has already happened, with fewer than 100,000 homes being built this year, and maybe this is a good moment to switch systems because you鈥檝e got a lull to do it. Actually, I think you鈥檒l find a very quick uptake. Much of this doesn鈥檛 require primary legislation, so we can get this moving and start to affect behaviour straight away.鈥�

He rejects the concern that housing opposition won鈥檛 just evaporate with promises of funding. The shires, he says, will come round once they realise what鈥檚 in it for them 鈥� including his own constituency, Welwyn and Hatfield. He says: 鈥淭he Home Counties, the shire counties 鈥� like mine 鈥� with these incentives in place, will probably quite happily go about building thousands of homes. It is the joining up of this policy [incentives with abolition of regional plans] that will make such a difference.鈥�

An early Cameron

Grammar school educated in Watford, Shapps is the epitome of the revitalised Conservative party. Young, slick and posh, with a talent for making public speeches without notes, he prompts obvious comparisons with David Cameron 鈥� although he looks more like Tony Blair. A private businessman and former long-standing Friends of the Earth member, he describes his politics as economically conservative and socially liberal. 鈥淪ocially, I was probably on the pinkish side of the party, but the whole party has moved. I was probably Cameron before I knew of Cameron.鈥�

This socially liberal side seems to inform his attitude to housing policy, including the commitment to build more homes. 鈥淚 grew up under Thatcher, so economically I knew what was going on,鈥� he says, 鈥渂ut I always thought there was no reason why people should be sleeping on the streets. I鈥檝e always thought the government should have a role in these problems.鈥� He鈥檚 proud of the fact that in his three years as shadow housing minister he鈥檚 seen off four government ministers, and he says this is a reflection of the Tories鈥� commitment to the sector.

If Shapps is going out of his way to persuade developers he鈥檚 on their side, he鈥檚 not doing the same with the Homes and Communities Agency, despite the fact many feel it has almost single-handedly saved the industry over the past year. Shapps says the organisation will be 鈥渟caled down鈥� but refuses to give more details.

For the moment, the clever money is on the agency鈥檚 powers in London being given wholly to the mayor, and its responsibility to dole out social housing grant being given to local authorities. The remainder 鈥� essentially what was English Partnerships 鈥� could remain as a separate quango. Shapps, however, will only say the HCA鈥檚 spending has been very disappointing. 鈥淚n housing they鈥檝e spent this year and next year and the year after鈥檚 housing budget already, and we鈥檝e had the worst building year ever since the war. It鈥檚 a really big problem for us.鈥�

Whether next week鈥檚 green paper will be enough to convince the sceptics of his plans remains to be seen, but there is at least a coherence emerging over how it will work. It has clearly been thought through, and there are many who have argued cogently for years that the way local government finance effectively penalised councils for allowing development was a huge brake on construction. Even so, such a dramatic change is a huge gamble in an industry, already on its knees. Whether this gamble pays off remains to be seen.