Dame Kate Barker CBE is to lead a new Commission into England’s housing shortage, with experts from the RTPI, Vistry Group and Society of Black Architects
Dame Kate Barker CBE, who undertook landmark inquiries into housing supply and land use planning for the last Labour Government, will head up the Commission into England’s housing shortage on behalf of “radical centre” think tank, Radix Big Tent.
The Radix Housing Commission will specifically focus on responding to England’s housing shortage and aims to make recommendations soon after the anticipated General Election.
During its work, the Commission will address four distinct, but connected issues: how to free up more land for development; the role of specialist housing, for example for students and older people; approaches to sustainability; and ensuring affordability.
A variety of industry voices have joined the Commission, which seeks to ‘depoliticise’ housing
The Commissioners include property professionals, developers, investors, planners, voluntary sector practitioners, academics and policy experts, as well as representatives of Shoosmiths and Radix.
This is alongside Lord Richard Best, cross-party peer, who chaired the Affordable Housing Commission and is a Member of the House of Lords Built Environment Committee and a former chair of the Hanover Housing Association.
The Commission will meet publicly and privately over the coming months and will invite experts involved in the real estate sector to provide evidence before submitting proposals to the next government covering planning policy, land, and unlocking investment.
On launching the Commission, Radix Big Tent chief executive, Ben Rich, said: “There is a general consensus that the housing sector is in crisis and lots of solutions have been proposed, but many of them fall at the first hurdle because of a disconnect between the recommendations made and the commercial realities of the property sector.
Dame Kate Barker CBE added: “Twenty years on from leading a review of housing supply, it’s depressing to find many of the problems identified still remain. A pragmatic rethink is overdue.”
In an election year, housing is a prevelant political topic
Lisa Tye, partner and living sector co-head at Shoosmiths, said: “The message is simple – we need to build more quality, sustainable and mixed-tenure homes, boosting residential supply and choice across England and the rest of the UK.
“This Commission seeks to unite experts from across the real estate industry to put forward a range of recommendations for the government and policymakers to consider and act upon.”
The Commission members are:
- Dame Kate Barker CBE (chair), chair of the 2004 ‘Barker Review’ on Housing Supply and the subsequent review on Land Use Planning (2006); author of Housing: Where’s the Plan (2014), non-exec Director at Taylor Wimpey plc and formerly member of the National Infrastructure Commission
- Lord Richard Best, social housing leader and member of House of Lords Built Environment Committee
- Richard Blyth, head of policy at the Royal Town Planning Institute
- Paul Brocklehurst, chair of the Land, Planning and Development Federation and former head of Catesby Estates
- Tom Chance, CEO, Community Land Trust Network
- Rick de Blaby, CEO, Get Living
- Melissa Mean, director at WeCanMake, a community-based project to create affordable homes by unlocking micro-sites for development
- Alexandra Notay, placemaking and investment director at Thriving Investments, and Independent Board Commissioner on the UK government’s Geospatial Commission
- Elsie Owusu OBE, founding chair of the Society of Black Architects
- Vicky Pryce, chair of Radix Fellows and leading economist
- Ben Rich, CEO, Radix Big Tent and former secretary to Lord Rogers’ Urban Taskforce
- Jackie Sadek, director at Urban Strategy and urban regeneration expert
- Andrew Taylor FRTPI, group planning director at Vistry Group
- Lisa Tye, partner and living sector co-head at Shoosmiths
- Doreen Wright, commercial director at A2Dominion Group
