Hestia Town Planning have helped many local residents, communities and parish councils respond to development proposals in their area. Quite often, the same fears reoccur, i.e. that the new housing development will worsen local amenities, reduce health and wellbeing and reduce the value of their home.
Whilst impacts on local amenities and health and wellbeing are considered during the planning process, the question of the impact on house prices is never directly addressed as house price impacts are not a material consideration in planning decisions. Therefore, when commenting on a planning proposals, we would generally avoid using decreasing house prices as an argument.
So does new housing development reduce the value of existing properties around that development?
In 2015 SE London was asked by the NHBC Foundation and Barratt to address this question and the conclusions were quite interesting and may come as a relief to some.
The study, used statistical and qualitative evidence to look at the impact of eight average sized (60 – 280 units) new developments completed within the last five years on their immediate neighbourhoods and wider local areas. The evidence offered a clear answer to the research question: no, house prices do not always decline around new housing developments, at least not for a sustained period of time.
Sometimes there were short term price reductions during or immediately after the construction period. More generally prices in the wider area continued to follow existing upward trends. In the immediate locality—within a 0.3 mile radius of the new development—prices in some cases rose more quickly than in the wider area once the development was completed.
The research has been open to some criticism, for example the research did not look at very large scale developments which disrupt the area for long periods. However, these results are still important as they show that house prices do not always decline as a result of new development despite widely held fears that they do, which fuels much opposition to new house building.
The full research can be found at the link below and may give some relief if there is a housing scheme proposed in your neighbourhood.
How we can help
If you would like to respond to a proposal in your area, whether it is for one dwelling or 1000, then we can write a professional letter on your behalf. The planning process is not the easiest process to navigate. We understand planning policy and will work with you to make sure your voice is heard and makes people listen and take note.
Hestia Town Planning 