Reforms to build more affordable homes in force

Local authorities will be able to buy land for social and affordable homes without paying “hope value” costs, under reforms implemented today (April 30).

As part of the government’s Long-Term Plan for Housing, councils can now buy cheaper land “in certain circumstances” where Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPOs) are used as “hope value” costs – what the land could be worth if developed in the future - will not apply.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) said that under “hope value” estimates, councils were “forced to pay potentially thousands more to buy land for housing or developments and get stuck in lengthy disputes about costs”.

Today’s change, it said, would “make it cheaper and easier for councils to transform communities by building new homes”.

Under the Levelling Up & Regeneration Act, bodies including Homes England and councils using CPOs to build, can apply to the levelling up secretary to remove “hope value”. But development must be in the public interest and support affordable or social housing or health or educational purposes.

DLUHC gave successful examples of CPOs “to facilitate development”, including the major regeneration of Leicester’s Waterside, featuring up to 500 new homes. Leicester …