Lawrence Turner is director of Boyer
The primary 12 months of this authorities was marked by a welcome sense of urgency. Angela Rayner’s planning reforms rightly acknowledged the size of the housing disaster and the pressing want for daring, decisive motion. The baton has now handed to Steve Reed, who should proceed to unlock supply to supply the properties and infrastructure that’s so badly want.
As planning consultants, we recognise that a lot of what Labour has launched is what we had lengthy referred to as for. The brand new authorities has shifted coverage that for too lengthy did not confront the housing disaster, prioritising the safety of the Inexperienced Belt above assembly housing want; a stance that that has left the housing scarcity extra acute than ever. Bulletins on native plan-making, native authorities reform, planning committee reform, nature restoration, nutrient neutrality, phosphates and rather more mark a critical try to confront long-standing limitations to growth. But when the housing scarcity is to be addressed on the tempo required, the federal government should now go additional.
Under is a wishlist for Labour’s Social gathering Convention – a sequence of sensible steps that might assist guarantee phrases are translated into supply.
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Plan-making requires continuity
Native plan preparation is the inspiration of housing supply. Continuity right here is crucial. Councils want assurance that the 30-month native plan timetable stays intact regardless of substantial modifications in native authorities constructions. Whereas authorities has confirmed that native authorities with Plans already underway ought to undertake them beneath the present system by December 2026, there may be little on the timing of secondary laws and clear steerage on how the brand new plan-making timetable will function in follow. With out this certainty, plan-making dangers stalling at exactly the second when momentum is most wanted.
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Useful resource planning departments correctly
A planning system is just as efficient because the individuals who function it. Planning departments at native authorities ought to be allowed to retain 100% of planning charges, enabling them to spend money on staffing and recruit new planners. Supply depends upon capability.
- Unblock nutrient neutrality and water shortage
The Secretary of State should act swiftly to take away two main limitations to housing supply: nutrient neutrality and water shortage. The Nature Restoration Fund is a welcome step, however until accelerated, it is not going to present the knowledge builders and native authorities want. Progress right here might unlock tens of hundreds of properties at the moment caught in limbo.
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Ship new cities and progress areas
The federal government has signalled its intent to revive new cities, and we stay up for lastly seeing the New Cities Taskforce’s checklist of recent cities places subsequent week. These strategic initiatives can ship housing and infrastructure at a scale that piecemeal growth can not. However ambition alone will not be sufficient. New cities require direct authorities help, focused infrastructure funding and a transparent framework to unlock land rapidly. With out this, the rhetoric of “new cities” dangers being lowered to political theatre.
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Rebuild the development workforce
Even when land is launched and consents secured, we wouldn’t have sufficient builders to satisfy demand. The provision chain and development workforce is tied to the present built-out charges. Funding in apprenticeships, coaching and upskilling throughout all trades, together with planning, is crucial. With out it, housing targets will stay unachievable.
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Streamline environmental regulation with out weakening safety
Environmental issues mustn’t ever be dismissed, however the present system is weighed down by extreme paperwork. From Environmental Impression Assessments to Habitat Laws, the sheer variety of consents is overwhelming. HS2 highlighted how laws can develop into disproportionate, with huge sums spent on ecological mitigation measures of questionable worth.
The duty for presidency is to not weaken environmental safety however to make regulation extra environment friendly.
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Put money into constructing consensus with native communities
The Housing Disaster can’t be solved by coverage alone. Public help is significant. Too usually, debates are framed in binary phrases: pro-development or anti-development, NIMBY or YIMBY. The fact is extra nuanced. In our cities and cities, many communities recognise the pressing want for brand new properties, but they concern the pressure it will place on already stretched native companies. In the meantime, in rural areas, communities usually really feel extra distant from the disaster and ask, “Why right here?” when proposals are launched.
The Secretary of State should lead a nationwide effort to construct belief, explaining clearly how infrastructure is delivered, who pays for it and the way communities will profit. For brand spanking new cities particularly, the take a look at can be whether or not they present not simply homes however faculties, GP surgical procedures and transport hyperlinks.
If we’re to make actual progress, we should have interaction with the legit considerations of all communities, city and rural alike, constructing belief, understanding, and a shared sense of accountability.
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Recognise the function of market sentiment
Lastly, we should acknowledge that planning reform alone can not revive the housing market. Confidence, fiscal stability and market sentiment matter as a lot as coverage reform. At current, many households and buyers are ready for situations to enhance earlier than committing. The Chancellor has as a lot affect right here because the Secretary of State. Rachel Reeves should proceed to position housing on the centre of financial coverage, framing it housing as an engine for progress. Nevertheless, the Chancellor must go additional to extend capital expenditure and deal with housing as an essential nationwide infrastructure that aligns authorities funding with native plans.
The necessity for supply
Steve Reed on this new function as Secretary of State will in the end be judged not by the amount of bulletins however by the outcomes. If he can construct consensus throughout native authorities, streamline regulation, correctly fund planning departments and speed up new cities, there may be nonetheless an opportunity to turbo-charge housing supply inside this Parliament.
The federal government has the chance to create a planning system that delivers sustainable progress, an economic system boosted by development, and a housing market that works for the subsequent era. This should be a precedence for the Labour Social gathering Convention.
