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Monthly Archives: July 2016
It appears that The National Trust is trying to put its plans for new homes in its own pockets even when it has not actually paid the costs. For the first time, the trust is selling off land it has not purchased as a result of its refusal to use the compulsory purchase powers of the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, following a consultation exercise on proposals to build 200 new homes on some of its land that was not previously on the market. The land that was not on the market, at the time of writing, is on the trust’s list of “strategic acquisitions.”
In an announcement today the trust said it will be selling off some of the land it does not have to pay for the scheme, saying the homes it wants to build “can be built at lower cost” and can be sold before completion to a third party.
The trust said it had sought advice on whether land is available for development under its plans for London’s south west, including the purchase of some or the majority of the land in its ‘strategic acquisition’ list. The trust said it had “done nothing wrong” and was “committed to helping address longstanding problems” in the east London boroughs of Hackney, Brent and Waltham Forest.
It has been in touch with the London Assembly and ministers, while the cabinet Office has written to the London Mayor, to say it is “disappointed” that the government has not been ready to support the trust in using the compulsory purchase powers.
The trust said it was exploring all possibilities of buying the land before selling it to a third party, in a process that has been “commissioned by the trust to help address longstanding problems” in the East London. The trust said it has “an absolute obligation to deliver affordable homes where they are needed” and it could not “afford to be left with significant surplus” after having spent “a considerable amount of money” on the development of homes in the boroughs of Hackney, Brent and Waltham Forest in east London.
It said it was “prepared for an uncertain future” with the land being available under the “strategic acquisitions”