‘Disconnect’ between planning policy and reality, survey finds
Over three quarters of planning committee members surveyed said the government’s 1.5 million homes target is “unachievable,” according to the results of a survey published recently.
The top reason given for the expected failure to hit the target was skills shortages within the construction industry (33%), followed by land banking by developers. Just 3% of respondents said the planning system itself “cannot cope”.
This is the fifth year that SEC Newgate has surveyed planning committee members about barriers to building and government policy and 485 took part in this year’s survey.
Respondents also raised concerns about the return to mandatory housing targets, with 63% opposed to this move and 73% objecting to how targets were calculated using existing housing stock.
The report concluded there is a “significant disconnect between national policy ambitions and the realities faced by those on the front lines of planning and delivery”.
Over 90% said the housing crisis has worsened, with 77% categorising it as “severe”.
Perry Miller, head of advocacy local at SEC Newgate, said: “Councillors are very clear that addressing the root causes of the failure to build enough homes is essential if the housing crisis is to be meaningfully addressed and the government is to achieve its ambitious housing target”.
Has anyone considered that there is insufficient affordable and evironmentally sustainable land? The result of institutional hostility to Environmental Impact Assessment and the rapid increase in population. As Mark Twain said “buy land they are not making it anymore.”