New powers for councils on social housing

The government has said councils will be able to buy cheaper land to help build more social and affordable homes because of new reforms coming into force today (1 May) as part of the long-term plan for housing.

Councils will be able to buy land for development through the use of Compulsory Purchase Orders without paying inflated ‘hope value’ costs.

‘Hope value’ estimates the cost land could be worth if it was developed on in the future, meaning councils are forced to pay potentially thousands more to buy land for housing or developments and get stuck in lengthy disputes about costs.

The new measures will remove hope value in certain circumstances where Compulsory Purchase Orders are being used and make it cheaper and easier for councils to transform communities by building new homes.

Kate Henderson, chief executive of the National Housing Federation, said: “Enabling local councils to buy cheaper land through Compulsory Purchase Orders without paying ‘hope value’ will allow them to build more of the desperately needed affordable homes the country needs, in the right places for the people who need it most.

“To solve the housing crisis and unlock the land needed for these homes, these changes must sit alongside wider reforms to planning policy which should form part of a nationally coordinated fully funded long-term plan for housing.”

The Levelling-up & Regeneration Act 2023 allows bodies such as Homes England and councils using Compulsory Purchase Orders and looking to build, to apply to the Secretary to remove ‘hope value’.