Publications
SJ Capital make a selection of publications available for you to download.
Growth and Infrastructure Bill
The Bill sets out new laws to speed up and simplify the planning system in the aim of boosting investment and local economic growth. It cuts down the volume of paperwork needed for planning applications and introduces a fast-track route for decisions on major projects.
National Planning Policy Framework - March 2012
The purpose of planning is to help achieve sustainable development. Sustainable development is about change for the better, and not only in our built environment.
RICS Research - December 2011
Land markets exist when and wherever it is possible to exchange rights in land for agreed amounts of money or services rendered.
Localism Act 2011
The Localism Bill became the Localism Act following the granting of Royal Assent.
Draft National Planning Policy Framework July 2011
This document aims to make the planning system less complex and more accessible for everyone to understand and use, thus encouraging people to be more involved in the planning for their community. The proposed framework also sets out to promote sustainable growth to meet the local aspirations of these communities.
The South Hampshire Housing Market - Annual Market Monitoring Report (2010)
This report monitors key indicators of the housing markets in South Hampshire (the PUSH sub-region). The indicators in these reports help inform PUSH and individual local authorities in developing policies in relation to housing and responding to market changes.
New Homes Bonus Scheme: final scheme design
This document sets out the final scheme design for the New Homes Bonus. The New Homes Bonus is designed to encourage local authorities to work alongside communities to develop their housing plans in a manner that meets their needs and concerns.
Decentralisation and the Localism Bill: an essential guide
This guide outlines the case for a radical shift of power from the central government to local communities, and describes the six essential actions required to deliver decentralization down through every level of government to every citizen through the Localism Bill, which provides the legislative foundation for change.
Localism Bill: Housing and Planning
The Localism Bill, introduced in December 2010, shifts power from central government to individuals, local communities and councils. This Paper summarises the planning, housing and London sections of the Bill.
Housing & Planning Statistics
The latest annual volume of Housing and Planning Statistics for 2010 summarises key trends and findings for housing and planning statistics in England.
OECD Economic Surveys
The UK economy emerged from the 2008-09 recession with elevated public and private debt and high unemployment. Strong growth and macroeconomic stability in the run-up to the crisis had hidden a build-up of significant imbalances, influenced by overreliance on debt-finance and the financial sector, and booming asset prices. These imbalances need to be addressed to ensure a sustainable and balanced recovery.
Institute of Directors Report on Growth
This report by the Institute of Directors on Growth puts forward two dozen policy changes over 10 areas of Government policy which could transform growth prospects and at little or no cost to the taxpayer over the period of the Spending Review. One of which calls for the government to release more green belt land for development.
Local Growth: realising every place's potential - October 2010
This White Paper sets out the Government's commitment to supporting growth and development through ensuring a responsive supply of land that supports business growth and increases housing supply.
New Homes Bonus Scheme
Grant Shapps, Minister for Housing and Local Government has written to local authorities to reinforce the message that government will offer support and incentives to those communities that build new houses and support development.
Department for Communities and Local Government - Draft Structural Reform Plan - July 2010
This plan looks to reform Communities and Local Government, including the planning system in order to give neighbourhoods much greater ability to determine the shape of the places in which their inhabitants live, based on "Open Source Planning". Giving Local Planning Authorities the ability to begin working in new ways on local plans in advance of the passing of the Localism Bill.
Planning Policy Statement 3 (PPS3): Housing
This paper sets out the national planning policy framework for delivering the Government's housing objectives. A principal aim of the new PPS3 is to remove gardens from the definition of brownfield land and enable Councils to decide what level of density is appropriate for their local area. The effect of both of these will be the need for more land to be released to meet housing needs.
BNP Paribas Report - Housing the Nation
A group of property experts, including our own planning expert Brian Smith, led by public and community affairs consultants Tristan Fitzgerald Associates (TFA) and agent BNP Paribas Real Estate have put together a paper calling for major changes to be made to sustain a housing market recovery.
This is a major report looking at the implications of the proposed policies of the main parties on housing and planning matters. It makes significant recommendations as to what will be required after the election to deliver the necessary increase in house building. The main conclusion is that improvement to the existing planning system is needed but that any wholesale change would cause further delays.
How Can The Planning System Deliver More Housing?
The Government remains committed to its national target of building 240,000 new homes per year by 2016 and delivering three million new homes by 2020. But this almost certainly cannot be achieved. A range of organisations have addressed these problems in the run up to the general election and made suggestions for change.
Arrested Development: Are we building houses in the right places?
This paper argues that more land needs to be allocated for housing, particularly in high demand areas. This is important not just to make housing more affordable, but to support our future economic prosperity. To make the case for more land to be provided for housing in the areas of highest demand, including on green belt where appropriate.
The report was published in March 2010.
Open Source Planning Green Paper
To create a planning system where there is a basic national framework of planning priorities and policies, within which local people and their accountable governments can produce their own distinctive local policies to create communities which are sustainable, attractive and good to live in.
The report was published in February 2010.
Urban Containment, Housing Affordability and Price Stability - Irreconcilable Goals
The Spatial Economics Research Centre is based at the London School of Economics and aims to provide high quality independent research to further understand why some regions, cities and communities prosper, whilst others do not.
This Research focuses on how more planning systems attempt to densify development or to confine new housing to 'brownfield' land, the more inelastic supply of a vital housing attribute is, the more 'unaffordable' housing becomes and the more volatile housing markets will be.
The report was published in September 2009.
Strong Foundations Building Homes and Communities
Incentivise new house-building by matching local authorities' council tax take for each new house built for six years - with special incentives for affordable housing.
The report was published in April 2009.
Matthew Taylor Review on Rural Economy and Affordable Housing
The Prime Minister asked Matthew Taylor, MP for Truro and St Austell, to conduct a review off how land use and planning can better support rural business and deliver affordable housing.
This Review was presented to Government on 23 July 2008.
Barker Review of Land Use Planning
The Government announced in the 2005 Pre-Budget Report that Kate Barker has been asked to lead an independent review of land use planning, focusing on the link between planning and economic growth.
The final report for the review was published on 5 December 2006.