Successive government's have made repeated efforts to increase the supply of new homes, but the housing crisis persists. One recent estimate put the shortfall in the number of homes at 1,200,000. The quality of those new homes that have been built has also been widely criticised.
These challenges have been stubbornly persistent and, if they are to be addressed, some reform of the planning system will be needed.
The current government recognises that and is beginning to take the first steps in that direction. For example, the recent introduction of the National Design Guide is intended to support local planning authorities in pushing for higher quality homes.
The government also intends to publish a Housing White Paper later in the year that, amongst other objectives, will aim to bring the planning system into the 21st century and support the deliver of an appropriate quantity and quality of new homes.
One of the challenges in reforming the planning system is that most development projects occur on long timescales. Even the smallest housing development can take years to progress from initially securing the land through to actually building homes on site. The local plan process can take even longer.
Substantial reform can be disruptive, slowing down projects and local plans - or even leading them to be abandoned altogether. That can have the effect of reducing housing supply in the short term. Ideally, reforms should therefore be quick and simple to implement, utilising the current planning structures as far as possible.
Against that backdrop, we have set out proposals for planning reforms which could help address the inadequate supply of new homes whilst also improving design quality. These reforms are not intended to be exhaustive - there are several other changes which could also support the delivery of those twin objectives. Instead, they are the changes that we think would have the biggest impact for the smallest change.
