Barker Review of Land Use
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| Barker Review of Land Use | |
|---|---|
| Name | Barker Review of Land Use |
| Author | Sir George Barker |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Land use, housing, planning |
| Published | 2004 |
| Publisher | HM Treasury |
Barker Review of Land Use
The Barker Review of Land Use was a major United Kingdom review of land supply, planning policy, and housing affordability chaired by Sir George Barker, commissioned by HM Treasury and published in 2004. It examined constraints on housing delivery across regions including London, Greater Manchester, West Midlands, and South East England, and proposed reforms touching institutions such as Department for Communities and Local Government and Office for National Statistics. The review interlinked with contemporaneous debates involving Gordon Brown, Tony Blair, Alistair Darling, and stakeholders including National Housing Federation, Royal Town Planning Institute, and English Partnerships.
Background and Purpose
The review was initiated amid rising housing prices in markets like Cambridge, Oxford, Brighton and Hove, Guildford, and Reading, and followed analytical precedents from reports by Joseph Stiglitz-style economists and institutional studies such as commissions led by Sir Derek Wanless and Kate Barker. It aimed to diagnose causes of housing shortages and assess planning systems involving authorities from London Borough of Camden to Cornwall Council, and land actors including British Land, Land Securities, Barratt Developments, and Taylor Wimpey. The terms of reference engaged legal and policy frameworks including the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, and interactions with fiscal tools used by HM Revenue and Customs, Audit Commission, and Homes and Communities Agency.
Key Recommendations
Barker recommended increasing housing supply through changes affecting bodies such as local planning authorities, Planning Inspectorate (England), and delivery agencies like English Partnerships; fiscal signals via Stamp Duty Land Tax calibration; and land release mechanisms referencing examples from New Towns Act 1946, Urban Development Corporations, and Enterprise Zones. She advocated for targets and incentives similar to frameworks in Regional Spatial Strategies and mechanisms mirroring Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 for affordable housing, adjustments to viability assessments used by Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, and promoting partnerships among Housing Associations, Homes and Communities Agency, Citibank-style lenders, and pension funds such as Railways Pension Scheme to underwrite build-out.
Economic Analysis and Methodology
The review applied microeconomic models of supply and demand drawing on work by Paul Krugman, Alfred Marshall-inspired supply elasticity theory, and appraisal methods used by Green Book (HM Treasury). It employed data from Office for National Statistics, Land Registry, and regional planning inventories including figures for South West England, East of England, and Yorkshire and the Humber. Analytic techniques referenced Cost-Benefit Analysis traditions, urban economics from Ed Glaeser-style literature, and housing market models used in reports by Bank of England and the Institute for Fiscal Studies. Sensitivity analyses considered migration flows to United Kingdom from European Union expansion states such as Poland and policy shocks like Interest rates movements by the Monetary Policy Committee.
Government Response and Implementation
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government responded with policy instruments integrated into the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 reforms and later into Planning Policy Statement 3 and National Planning Policy Framework. Implementation involved agencies like the Homes and Communities Agency and monitoring via Office for National Statistics datasets and inspections by the Planning Inspectorate (England). Financial measures referenced adjustments to Affordable Homes Programme funding and collaborations with entities such as Greater London Authority and Transport for London to unlock sites near Crossrail and High Speed 1 alignments.
Impact and Criticism
The review influenced housing targets and stimulated debate among think tanks such as the Resolution Foundation, Institute for Public Policy Research, and Centre for Policy Studies. Critics from groups like CPRE and academics associated with London School of Economics and University of Cambridge argued that market-focused recommendations underplayed environmental constraints raised by English Nature and heritage concerns championed by English Heritage. Economists linked to University of Oxford and University College London critiqued assumptions about supply elasticity and the role of greenbelt protections involving places like Metropolitan Green Belt and Chiltern Hills.
Legacy and Influence on Planning Policy
The Barker Review left a durable imprint on subsequent documents such as the National Planning Policy Framework, influenced the evolution of Local Development Frameworks, and affected funding models for Affordable housing delivery involving Registered Providers and Housing Revenue Account reform debates. Its recommendations informed later inquiries by commissions like those chaired by Lord Heseltine and intersected with policy responses to crises involving Grenfell Tower-era regulatory reviews. The review’s blend of economic analysis, institutional reform, and land-use planning continues to be cited in parliamentary debates in the House of Commons and policy research by institutions including the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.