The webinar featured Catherine Knight, a director at DWF and John Webster, a partner at DWF both who specialise in regeneration and compulsory purchase. They were joined by John Sayer, Head of Regeneration at Ardent, providing his perspective on the discussion.
The webinar explored key policy initiatives and government instructions to local authorities regarding the use of compulsory purchase powers to drive housing delivery.
The speakers highlighted the government's ambitious target of building 1.5 million new homes in England over a five-year parliamentary term, as announced by Prime Minister Keir Starmer as part of the “plan for change” launched on 5 December. The discussion also covered the challenges and government’s strategies for achieving this goal, including removal of hope value compensation to make land acquisition more feasible.
The speakers also considered the importance of proactive local authority involvement in land assembly and development projects, supported by compulsory purchase powers, to meet housing needs and drive regeneration. The webinar also addressed recent policy changes and government initiatives aimed at improving housing delivery and infrastructure development.
