Housing Development (Housing Study) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Housing Development (Housing Study) - Essay Example As a matter of fact, only the rich and the elderly can afford living in some communities in England. Low-income earners, more so the youth, are completely priced out when it comes to buying a house in some communities. Unfortunately, the few interventions that were applied to address the issue of house affordability in some communities in England have always been inefficient. According to one Andrew Clark, the head of policy at the National Farmers Union, a number of areas resist any attempts to ease the housing affordability problems. Due to these resistances, it has become rather difficult to propose and implement policies and reforms that would make housing affordable and sustainable (National Housing Federation, 2012). These resistance problems are particularly rampant in beautiful and scenic areas. Therefore, to outline principles and measures to promote housing, the government has devised a localism agenda in addition to the National Planning Policy Framework. These measures so ught to overcome the hindrances to affordable housing supply in rural areas and offer incentives such as New Homes Bonus and an infrastructure levy. While the New Homes Bonus involves the government matching the local authority’s revenue, the infrastructure levy raises funds from developers to pay for community essentials (Haughton and Allmendinger, 2012). Nonetheless, others worry that localism might just be another conservative tool or agenda instead of serving its intended purpose of creating affordable housing for all. This paper explores localism and its implications on housing and planning in England, asserting that housing problems in England will worsen under localism. Drivers of Localism in England The British coalition government has established several programs targeting different spheres of public life. One such sector targeted by these far-reaching reforms is housing. In fact, the planning of housing in England is undergoing some reformation, with the spatial reg ional housing and planning strategies being replaced by a localism approach, which focuses on community-centered housing planning and development. Although some housing stakeholders are of the opinion that localism will result in more opportunities and more houses than the earlier regional-target approach, others tend to disagree, asserting that localism will not improve the situation (South West Observatory, 2012). Still, some sections of the public wonder what localism is and what its possible impacts on housing and planning are. To understand the implications and effects of localism on housing planning, it is important that the drivers behind it and evidence that supports its effectiveness are understood. In England, localism is an approach not only to housing and planning but also to other projects and programmes by the coalition government. In all programmes targeted by the localism policy, the objective is to promote the involvement of local communities rather than the involve ment of the central government. Specifically, localism seeks the collaboration and participation of local communities in the planning and building of houses. Thus, localism encourages local communities not only to identify their problems and needs but also to prioritize them (South West Observatory, 2012). Due to this local involvement in problem identification, these communities have a hand in defining and designing what the services offered to them should look like. Furthermore, local