{"id":118098,"date":"2022-11-08T11:16:31","date_gmt":"2022-11-08T11:16:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/?p=118098"},"modified":"2022-11-08T14:22:18","modified_gmt":"2022-11-08T14:22:18","slug":"getting-housing-planning-reform-wrong-serious-damage-cps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/getting-housing-planning-reform-wrong-serious-damage-cps\/118098\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting housing planning reform wrong could do \u2018serious damage\u2019, warns CPS"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new report by CPS<\/a> has examined the arguments for housing planning reforms and warns of potential negative impacts on housing targets and the economy<\/h2>\n

Proposed housing planning reform runs the risk of endangering housing targets and damaging the economy, the Centre for Policy Studies(CPS) has warned.<\/p>\n

A new report from CPS has examined the leading options for abolishing or weakening \u2018top-down targets\u2019, and their likely impact on the housing system<\/a>.<\/p>\n

These range from reducing the power of the Planning Inspectorate to allowing local authorities to fix their own housing need.<\/p>\n

The Government has recommitted to its target of building 300,000 homes per year. But it has also promised to do more to give local communities control over the planning process.<\/p>\n

Incorrect housing planning reform could lead to substantial job losses in related sectors<\/h3>\n

The paper accepts that top-down targets have been much resented, and agrees that in the long term it is right that the Government should aim to deliver homes in more consensual ways<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, it warns that removing them without developing credible alternatives could lead to a 20% fall in housebuilding, with some estimates as high as 40%. A 20% slump could see as many as 800,000 job losses in construction and related sectors.<\/p>\n

The paper warns that three of the proposed policies- cutting housing targets on greenfield sites in favour of brownfield sites<\/a>; scrapping the 5-year land supply test; and giving councils the ability to assess their own housing needs- posed a significant risk when the economic downturn and rising interest rates<\/a> are already endangering the 300,000 homes per year target and the health of the sector.<\/p>\n

Not all measures were as detrimental<\/h3>\n

Two other measures were found to have a more manageable impact, namely guaranteeing that approved local plans are treated as up to date for a specified period, and reducing the power of the Planning Inspectorate to throw out local plans that are close to meeting their targets.<\/p>\n

The report, co-authored by Alex Morton and Samuel Hughes, the CPS\u2019s new Head of Housing, proposes alternative options to housing planning reform to help garner local support for developments:<\/p>\n