Can land value uplift deliver affordable housing? Experiences from England

Abstract

Purpose

The theoretical case for land value capture is well-known, but the effectiveness of affordable housing delivery as a capture mechanism is not so well-documented. Building on the earlier theoretical and empirical work of Whitehead (1991, 2007) and Crook and Whitehead (2002), the purpose of this paper is to consider the provision of affordable housing from a land value capture viewpoint, focusing on the process by which the amount of affordable housing is determined between landowners/developers on the one hand and local planning authorities on the other.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper adopts a mixed-mode approach for the data collection. Two surveys of local planning authorities were undertaken, together with a series of case study interviews.

Findings

The paper evaluates whether land value capture has been an effective mechanism for delivering affordable housing by focusing on three principal areas: first, the political agenda in relation to land value capture and the supply of affordable housing; second, the nature and motivation of the stakeholders involved in affordable housing decision-making; and third, the use of economic models as decision tools for determining the amount and type of affordable housing are negotiated.

Originality/value

The research provides some insight into the effectiveness of local authority affordable housing targets as a means of capturing the uplift in land value that results from the grant of planning permission.

Citation

Wyatt, P. (2018), "Can land value uplift deliver affordable housing? Experiences from England", Journal of European Real Estate Research, Vol. 11 No. 1, pp. 87-101. https://doi.org/10.1108/JERER-02-2017-0009