Planning reform is essential

In July, the new Labour government set out 40 bills and articles of draft legislation in the King’s Speech. These included the Planning and Infrastructure Bill intended to streamline and speed up planning and associated infrastructure needs to get more housing built.

The Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner later announced housebuilding targets in England would rise to 370,000 a year; each area’s target would be proportionally determined by local need.

Gillian Charlesworth, Chief Executive Officer of the Building Research Establishment (BRE), said: “Planning reform is essential to build 1.5 million new homes over the next five years … planning reform alone will not act as a magic remedy for all Britain’s building problems. We need better buildings as well as more buildings.”

Ifath Nawaz, Senior Consultant Solicitor Planning at Setford, said: “While we welcome the proposed improvements to the planning system, which has been neglected for many years, there are real concerns that without significant new resources to support local authorities, the ambitious housebuilding targets cannot be delivered. Local authorities are already struggling to attract the expertise needed in their planning departments to handle the current workload, let alone an anticipated increase in new housing developments.”

Beatrice Barleon, Engineering UK Head of Policy and Public Affairs, said: “We look forward to working with Skills England and other stakeholders on developing a comprehensive workforce and training plan for engineering and technology to ensure that the sector, and indeed the entire economy, can thrive with a highly trained and adaptable workforce.”

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