New British Homes, English planning system, Building Houses in England
Is ?build build build? best for England?s planning system"
6 July 2020
Is ?build build build? best for England?s planning system"
Alister Scott, Professor of Environmental Geography and an expert in urban planning and infrastructure, writes for The Conversation on proposals to change the UK’s planning system.

Is ?build build build? really the best way forward for England?s planning system"
?Rip up planning red tape to spur house building,? says housing secretary Robert Jenrick, while Prime Minister Boris Johnson argues for a radical shake-up to the planning system to deliver on his ?build build build? mantra. There?s a clear political message that England?s planning system is broken and needs change. Such change should not be based on simply building more, but on an accurate diagnosis of the problems the planning system is experiencing and trying to solve. If it isn?t, there is a risk of a future prime minister saying again that the planning system is broken and in need of urgent reform.
After all, David Cameron in 2011 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. Yet consistently over 80% of planning applications are approved, challenging any simplistic presumptions that planning inhibits growth.
Political change has been a constant in England?s planning sy...