Registration And Refreshments

Welcome And Chair’s Opening Remarks 

Mike Kiely, Chair, Planning Officers Society Board

OPENING ADDRESS

Disposing Of Surplus Public Land In Order To Meet 2020 Housing Targets: The Government's Approach

Reflecting on the government’s intentions and expectations when it comes to disposing of public land to deliver more homes

• How is the government taking forward its requirement that enough central government land should be released from 2015-20 to allow 150,000 homes to be built?

Joanna Key, Head of Land and Housing Delivery, Department for Communities and Local Government s

Setting Out The Big Picture On Public Land Release

• Market and policy context
• The scale of the opportunity
• Best practice – what works to meet landowner objectives and optimise risk/ return

Jim Ward, Director of Residential Research and Consultancy, Savills

Learn from the insight of public land owners on how they envisage land release, covering the key questions:

• How much public land will be released, and when and where will it become available?
• What powers are available to the public landowner to help bring forward development?
• What assistance can the public landowner provide in securing planning permission?
• How will the land be brought to the market?
• Where does this process sit in the planning process?

Scott Anderson, Senior Property Development Manager, Transport for London

Geoff Robson, Asset Strategy and Portfolio Director, Defence Infrastructure Organisation, Ministry of Defence

• Why does National Grid have such a significant surplus property portfolio?
• Challenges and constraints to releasing land
• The St William Joint Venture - an innovative approach
• Key principles for a successful Joint Venture

Phil Edwards, Head of Real Estate, National Grid Property, National Grid plc

Joint Q&A

Morning Break And Refreshments

Learn From Successful Case Studies Of Housing Delivery On Public Land 

Case Study 1: How housing is being directly commissioned from small builders by the government on publicly-owned land in Northstowe

• The approach, challenges and opportunities for all parties
• How local government and small builder partners are expected to contribute

Jo Mills, Director of Planning and New Communities, South Cambridgeshire District Council

Followed by: Andrew Dixon,  Policy Advisor,  Federation of Master Builders , who will speak about the challenges and best practice for small builders when it comes to delivering homes on surplus public land.

Case Study 2: How public land is being used to deliver 1700 self and custom-build properties in Oxfordshire

• How large scale self-build is being delivered within the parameters set by the outline planning permission and planning obligation
• How a local development order was drawn up to give confidence that individuality in design would be supported
• How the relationship between the Council as both developer and local planning authority is working in practice

Alex Keen, Team Leader – Minor Developments, Cherwell District Council

Joint Q&A

Networking Lunch

Focus On Land Commissions: What Do They Mean For You?

• How is the Tees Valley Combined Authority’s land commission going to work? Challenges and lessons learnt so far
• How is it going about identifying public sector land for development?
• How can land commissions accelerate the release of public sector land for development?

Kevin Parkes, Executive Director of Economic Development and Communities, Middlesbrough Council

Public Land Assembly: Speeding Up The Process

• How can we speed up public land assembly?

• What are quicker routes to market public land?

Davena Wilson , Head of Land, Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation 

The Process For Procuring A Housing Development Partner For Public Land: How To Do It

• How to avoid legal problems on issues such as state aid or achievement of best consideration
• What are the pros and cons of the different partnership models for housing development on public land?
• How to maximise the attractiveness of the opportunity to potential private sector partners while ensuring good outcomes for the public sector
• How to set up partnerships for public land development in ways that maximise the prospects for delivery

Anne Bowden , Partner, Pinsent Masons
David Meecham , Partner, Pinsent Masons

Joint Q&A

Afternoon Break And Refreshments 

ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSIONS

Interact with your peers in small focused groups. Choose your discussion from:

A.  Local authorities’ approaches to public land release, facilitated by Alex Keen

B.  Efficient private-public partnerships, facilitated by Anne Bowden

C.  Starter Homes and affordable housing delivery on public land

D.  The best routes to market public land, facilitated by David Meecham

E.   Local authorities leading collaboration to unlock public sector land, facilitated by Craig Egglestone

F.  Developer’s experience and expectations when it comes to bring forward housing on public land

Key take-away points to be shared with the audience

PANEL DISCUSSION:

How To Make Public Land Viable: Delivering Mainstream And Affordable Housing In An Era Of Starter Homes

• How to make revenue from public land disposal
• How can schemes be made viable, and how should the level of affordable housing be settled?
• How can a balance be found between the aspiration of public bodies on land value and affordable housing delivery?
• What are the requirements to deliver Starter Homes on publicly own lands? How will it play out?

Anthony Lee, Head of Affordable Housing, BNP Paribas Real Estate

Paul Clark, Development Director, GL Hearn

Chair’s Closing Remarks

Close of Conference