Housing secretary Robert Jenrick has backed a controversial report from right-wing think tank Policy Exchange that slams the planning system and calls for reform.
In the report, national infrastructure commissioner Bridget Rosewell said: “We must abolish the plan as a shibboleth, a straitjacket and an industry.
“What has got out of control is the edifice that we have erected around this balancing act and the rigidities which have resulted.”
Jenrick said: “It’s time to rethink planning from first principles.
“The time has come to speed up and simplify this country’s overly bureaucratic planning process.
“This government is thinking boldly and creatively about the planning system to make it fit for the future. I commend Policy Exchange’s contribution in ensuring that we act ambitiously when it comes to reforming our planning system and making it fit for our future generations.”
His comments follow ongoing promises to “radically reform” the planning system, with extensions to permitted development rights and new zoning-style permission in principle, which could significantly reduce councils’ influence on the process.
The report is a collection of essays from developers, urban designers and researchers, suggesting reform for the different parts of the planning system, from land value capture and garden cities to environmental impact requests and affordable housing contributions.
Rosewell reiterated claims that planning could be done at twice the speed “just by applying sensible rules” and admonished local plans and examinations in public. She said a framework is required for long-term investment, but added “in detail, local interests and local people can fight it out”.
Network Homes executive director Jamie Ratcliff and research and policy lead Reuben Young requested a fixed housing provision, as a tax on the estimated gross development value of a scheme with no negotiation. That finance could then be used by the council to buy homes at that value.
They wrote: “The current process for negotiating delivery of affordable homes is unproductive and time-consuming. We need to burn this bureaucracy to build the homes that Britain needs.”
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