Call for papers: contributions are invited from academics and practitioners with an interest in issues concerning ‘five- year’ land supplies for housing development. 



Venue: University of Northampton. 

Seminar date: 30th October 2014



Context

The focus of this seminar is the Coalition government’s policy to require local planning authorities to demonstrate the availability of local building land on a rolling for ‘5-year’ basis. On the one hand this policy has been created to stimulate a reliable identification of sufficient land for planned housing development, while on the other it is to be a means whereby local authorities will facilitate land to come forward to meet development appetites. It is evident, however, that land supply is generating a distinct tension in its relationship to other policies in some local plans, with many councils experiencing problems from ‘viability’ questions about 5-year land supplies that are overturning other issues. 



At present there is no firm evidence of the government policy producing additional amounts of house completions, though anecdotally there appear to be some recent increases in formal planning approvals, albeit these may be on ‘speculative’ sites that are outside Local Plan provisions. The seminar seeks to explore these issues and the emerging practices involved, and is keen to explore the following kinds of considerations : 

• Is there emerging evidence that the ‘five-year land supply’ policy can be linked to increased housing supply? 

• Have challenges to the adequacy of five-year land supplies increased speculation on ‘non-plan’ sites? 

• Are five-year land supply policies impacting upon subsequent design quality and local infrastructure provision being planned or provided in new developments?

• Are debates over five-year land supply debates delaying adoption of the local plan process ?

• Potential lack of focus on smaller urban infill sites and less funding to redevelop harder brownfield sites?

• What practices are emerging for ascertaining the ‘viability’ of sites that might feature within five-year land supplies? 

Format

‘Headline’ contextual input to the seminar will be supplied by two leading practitioners from the built environment and development sector, followed by a series of individual contributions in the form of a 20-minute presentation, followed by 10 minutes of questions and discussion. 

 



Proposals are invited from prospective participants to present their research or details of planning and development practice that can address issues relevant to the five-year land supply policy : it is hoped this seminar will be of interest to a range of professional or academic backgrounds, including geography, housing, urban design, planning, property development and local politics.



Short abstracts of up to 300 words in length should be submitted by the 25th of August, and confirmation of the proposals accepted for the seminar will be confirmed with their prospective authors before the end of August.



Following the seminar, summaries of presentations will be issued as a collection, with a short contextual piece on their contents and on the seminar discussions and conclusions. 



Consideration is also being given to extending some of the contributions into submissions to academic journals, possible as a proposal for a ‘thematic’ special issue and contributors are invited to discuss this with the organizers.



Attendance

This event is sponsored by the Housing Studies Association through a research event grant. There is no charge to attend, and lunch and other refreshments will be provided. Unfortunately it will not be possible to cover any travel expenses but if postgraduate researchers or new lecturers wish to present and find travel costs a barrier, there may be some assistance that could be arranged. Please ask about this at the time of submitting your abstract.  



Deadline

Please submit proposed abstracts to 

Dr Martin Field [log in to unmask] or 

Dr Alina Congreve [log in to unmask] 

by the 25th of August 2014.  



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