, Local Government and Housing Committee
Social housing supply: Evidence session 2
Sure, and I've not got anything against that, I'm just saying, we were talking—. In terms of the target we're failing to meet, those seem to be secondary issues—
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Social housing supply: Evidence session 2
That's still quite a small-scale solution there, isn't it?
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Social housing supply: Evidence session 2
[Inaudible.]—delivery charges, because, as we've discussed, we don't expect the market, by itself, to be able to meet our need, and that requires public sector and third sector involvement. Just in terms of the barriers there, as you mentioned earlier, the…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Social housing supply: Evidence session 2
Okay. Can I just—
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Social housing supply: Evidence session 2
But if we had that excess funding, we'd be producing more social housing in the first place, wouldn't we? Those are the realities of what policy makers are engaging with. Can I just move us on—
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Social housing supply: Evidence session 2
But isn't that the problem in pursuing targets, and Wendy's suggestion we should increase the target? When the underlying conditions are not favourable, that's simply going to result in suboptimal paths being followed.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Social housing supply: Evidence session 2
But isn't that an unintended consequence?
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Social housing supply: Evidence session 2
But in the here and now, have you observed any unintended consequences of trying to meet the target, given the underlying conditions—the unit cost, for example, of each social home having doubled—so that it's not going to be achievable within budgets? Have…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Social housing supply: Evidence session 2
I just want to stick on that target question for a second, because, Wendy, you said that you thought the target needs to be more ambitious, even though you acknowledge the target is unlikely to be met. So, I'm just wondering—and there is a perennial debate on…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Social housing supply: Evidence session 1
I agree with you that that's what we should be aiming towards, but that's not where we are, and the reality of austerity-hit local authorities and a very risk-averse culture within local authorities is that they often don't feel that they have the energy for…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Social housing supply: Evidence session 1
It is used to challenge CPOs.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Social housing supply: Evidence session 1
Well, it is used to challenge CPOs.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Social housing supply: Evidence session 1
And that sounds desirable. The reality is that is not the current position and so authorities would be liable to challenge under European human rights and probably lose, and so, 'Let's give it a try' is sort of—forgive me for saying this in a pejorative…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Social housing supply: Evidence session 1
Well, they're linked, aren't they?
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Social housing supply: Evidence session 1
Can I just make a general point? Toby mentioned earlier that Welsh Government, local authorities, should be far more willing to compulsorily purchase land. Put aside the fact that they've lost a lot of the skills able to do that, that is not without risk…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Social housing supply: Evidence session 1
Sure, but do you have any thoughts on my specific example of TfW and the development of the metro and its potential?
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Social housing supply: Evidence session 1
It's just a quick follow up to you, Dr Shepherd, if I could, as we've got you and you do have expertise in land value capture. Just a question I raised earlier about the potential of TfW to leverage its role, because, obviously, as the metro kicks in, you're…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Social housing supply: Evidence session 1
Thank you.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Social housing supply: Evidence session 1
That doesn't stop us.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Social housing supply: Evidence session 1
I'm going to ask about something that came up in the evidence. The Bevan Foundation, in its evidence, is raising some concerns about the reliance on the intermediate rental option—so-called 'affordable rent', which, in practice, in many places, is not what it…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Social housing supply: Evidence session 1
Thank you. Would any of the others—? Sorry, Chair, I'm taking over your job here.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Social housing supply: Evidence session 1
Sorry, I don’t know if you can hear me trying to interrupt. I just want to press you further on that. I’m intrigued by that notion of the joint spin-off company with TfL. Do you think that the land authority—sorry, that was a slip; it used to be called the…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Social housing supply: Evidence session 1
No, I don’t think it is. So, part of the original vision for the metro that Mark Barry argued for 10, 15 years ago was about leveraging those additional land values that would go up next to metros, and TfW should have a role in exploiting that, and I don’t…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Social housing supply: Evidence session 1
Can I just press you a bit on that? Sorry, I thought you were praising TfW for some innovation of looking at how it could leverage the land along the metro rather than just building the trains.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Social housing supply: Evidence session 1
And could you say more about the TfW example you cited earlier?
