Boris Johnson, not unlike many Prime Minister’s before him, has announced a radical shakeup of the planning system to aid his ‘build, build, build’ mantra. The clear political message being that England’s planning system is broken and needs change. Political change has been a constant in England’s planning system. Most recently, in 2011 David Cameron attacked the planning system as “the enemy of enterprise” and similarly embarked on a package of reforms to speed up housing delivery and economic growth and cut red tape.
The £5bn plan announced by the Prime Minister will include up to £1.5 billion allocated to hospital maintenance and building, eradicating mental health dormitories and improving A&E capacity. Another £100 million will be used for 29 road projects. Over £1bn for new school buildings, and £12bn to help build 180,000 new affordable homes for ownership and rent to be built over the next 8 years. Of course, this leaves a chance open for a future prime minister absolving these policies and claiming the planning system is broken and needs change. Written by Akansha Soni
Boris Johnson’s argument hinges on the fact that replacing our plan-led system that assesses every application with a zoning system would reduce bureaucracy and help speed up decision-making aiding in more houses being built quicker. The most prominent moves in this direction have been enterprise zones and brownfield “permission in principle” orders. Permitted development rights have enabled the government to fast-track more commercial-to-residential developments and housing extensions. Boris Johnson has just announced a further loosening of the rules on converting other commercial establishments, shops and redundant premises into homes.
The move has already racked up criticisms as not only do they conflict with other policy considerations such as Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission, they lead to the growth of poor quality houses and flats with no windows, isolated from key services and infrastructure. Boris Johnson’s plan to rebuild the UK economy after COVID has not been subject to much enthusiasm, Labour and the CBI have said he was not focusing enough on saving jobs and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer quoted as saying there was “not much of a deal and not much that’s new”. Whereas, environmental groups have warned that ‘build, build, build’ will lower environmental standards and afford the British countryside and its wildlife even less protection
Undoubtedly the one industry that is cautiously ecstatic about the policies announced in the construction industry, trade associations and representatives were swift to respond. Build UK said: “We welcome the prime minister’s comments today, which clarify the government’s commitment to the infrastructure revolution and levelling up the UK. This is a chance to not merely restart, but reset and reinvent the delivery of infrastructure projects and drive the economic recovery.” The changes announced will inarguably make it easier for vacant commercial buildings to become residential, however, ‘Build, build, build’ is the wrong place to start. The government instead should focus on a long-term sustainable quality-based approach to the planning system. Key societal and economic issues that influence these issues should be the first to be addressed, such as the influx of luxury condos and not enough affordable family homes. The planning commission needs to address and prioritise strong policies that help the transition to a greener lower carbon future with higher priority given to retrofitting of existing housing stock.
