The government has released figures showing the number of homes granted planning permission has reached levels higher than before the 2008 recession…
In the year to March councils across England granted planning permission for 261,000 new homes to be built. This represented the highest annual total for eight years.
Housing Minister Brandon Lewis said the figures highlighted the success of the government to keep the country building.
He said: “The previous system of top-down targets built nothing but resentment. Our reforms, a key part of our long-term economic plan, have changed that.
“It means that permissions have been granted on 261,000 homes in the year to March – higher than the pre-recession peak in 2007 – while housing starts are more than double what they were 6 years ago.
“And with the Housing Bill set to include measures to bring forward brownfield sites, we’re determined that we will keep the country building while protecting the green belt.”
The 2008 economic downturn had major consequences for the housebuilding industry. As a result a quarter of a million construction roles were lost.
In a bid to counteract this the government has focused its attention on housebuilding as part of a long term economic plan. Some of the reforms it has brought in include giving local people power to determine development in their local area. This has been achieved through local plans.
A total of 64 per cent of councils have reportedly already adopted a local plan. Comparatively, this figure stood at just 17 per cent in May 2010.
Over the last four years local support for housebuilding has also doubled from 28 per cent in 2010 to 56 per cent today. During the same period opposition to local housebuilding has more than halved.
The government said the forthcoming Housing Bill will push the sector further. One of the measures set to come out of the new Bill will be the creation of a new register for brownfield land. This will help fast-track construction on sites previously used by industry or commerce near existing communities.
The Bill will also include measures to streamline and speed up the planning process.
