The director of the government’s programme for repurposing and selling off public land is in discussions with the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) over how to better capture the social value benefits of land, amid criticism from some council leaders that the government has an over-inflated perception of land values.
Ellen Vernon, programme director for One Public Estate (OPE), told a committee of the Local Government Association’s (LGA) environment, economy, housing and transport board last Thursday that OPE is currently in discussions with MHCLG about including “social value benefits” as well as monetary value in assessments of land. Ms Vernon added that there is already a “shift away” from a “full reliance on land values” in calculating the benefit-cost ratios behind some of their investments.
The government is expected to take forward all twelve recommendations made in a landmark report on flood insurance, including four where local authorities will be required to play a significant role.
In the independent review, commissioned by Whitehall in the aftermath of the 2019 South Yorkshire flooding, Aviva chief executive Amanda Blanc explored the extent to which people in the area were adequately protected by insurance. It has already led to a consultation, launched earlier this month, around changes designed to reduce insurance costs for households on low incomes.
The proposed reforms include offering discounts to households that have fitted proper flood resilience measures, and reducing the cheapest subsidised premium for contents insurance provided through the government s Flood Re scheme. Ms Blanc’s report suggests these could still be too high for households on low incomes.