ABSTRACT

When a housing area is developed, there are certain things which are customarily the responsibil ity of the developer: the houses, the estate roads, the infrastructure for gas, water, electricity, drains. There are other things about which it is not always clear who should provide (or pay) for them. Who, for example, pays for connecting the estate infrastructure to the existing network of roads, drains, pipes and cables? And if that existing network is too small to accept the additional load from the estate, who should pay for expanding the capacity in the sewage works, in the feeder roads, etc? Who should pay for play spaces and open areas in the new housing estate? 1 f that cannot be agreed upon, then they might not be provided and the estate will be less attractive. If the estate is big enough, then it might need its own community services such as a primary school, or a local health centre. Who should pay for these? There is a strong argument that the general taxpayer should not have to pay all of such costs. 1 Moreover, the local authority might decide that it would be good to have a mix of housing on the estate, for example not all expensive owner­ occupation but housing in the 'social sector' . How should the provider of that housing get hold of the land, and at what price? These are all examples of what we call 'public facilities ' in housing projects.2