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Today the UK government has published the details of its “once in a generation” overhaul of England’s planning system. The proposed reforms confirm many of the fears I outlined here, and in some ways they are more concerning.
THREAD: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/oureconomy/boris-johnsons-plan-build-back-better-attack-democracy/
THREAD: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/oureconomy/boris-johnsons-plan-build-back-better-attack-democracy/
The White Paper proposes to replace the discretionary system of planning permission that has been in place since 1947 with a zoning system whereby all land would be designated simply as either ‘growth’, ‘renewal’, or ‘protected’. The significance of this can't be understated.
The effect of this is essentially to transfer power away from local elected representatives towards private developers. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that this represents one of the greatest transfers of power from public to private since Thatcher’s Right to Buy.
The plan also involves abolishing section 106 agreements, the main mechanism for delivering social housing in England. It's unclear how the proposed ‘Infrastructure Levy’ will lead to more social housebuilding rather than less, particularly in poorer areas with low land values.
Combined with the extension of Permitted Development Rights, there’s every chance that the reforms will lead to a new generation of slum housing, as the Royal Institute of British Architects and others have pointed out. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/aug/05/englands-planning-reforms-will-create-generation-of-slums
Fundamentally, the reforms do nothing to address the main bottleneck on housing supply, which as I explain here is our reliance on the speculative model of development. By handing over more power to developers, it could make things even worse. https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/oureconomy/boris-johnsons-plan-build-back-better-attack-democracy/
According to an FOI obtained by Shelter, the government hasn’t even assessed what impact its new proposals will have on housebuilding. The whole process has a strong stench of lobbying from special interests, rather than evidence-based policy. https://blog.shelter.org.uk/2020/08/government-doesnt-know-how-zonal-planning-will-affect-housebuilding/
A cynic might point to the £11m that the Tories have received from developers since Boris Johnson became prime minister, as @PeterKGeoghegan and @JennaCorderoy revealed. As Robert Jenrick knows too well, these donors expect a return on their investment. https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/dark-money-investigations/exclusive-property-tycoons-gave-tories-more-than-11m-in-less-than-a-year/
Overall it’s difficult to see this as anything other than an ideological crusade to undermine the ability of local authorities to act in the public interest, and hand over more power to private developers. It won't help the housing crisis, and could make it much worse.
The government's White Paper can be read in full here. END https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/planning-for-the-future
