The UK government's planning reform proposals, which were revealed yesterday, will fail to address the root causes of England's housing crisis according to architects and critics.
The government's Planning for the Future white paper, which aims to reform the planning system, prioritises the interests of developers over the building of good-quality, affordable housing, architects told Dezeen.
"The government are proposing to hand volume housebuilders the right to build whatever they want," warned architect Charles Holland. "This is unlikely to be either beautiful or affordable."
"While there's no doubt the planning system needs reform, these shameful proposals do almost nothing to guarantee the delivery of affordable, well-designed and sustainable homes," said RIBA president Alan Jones. White paper aims to fast-track development
In the Planning for the Future report, the government laid out proposals for ways to fast-track schemes that conform to pre-set beauty standards or will be built in areas earmarked for development.
Prime minister Boris Johnson called the proposals "radical reform unlike anything we have seen since the second world war". The current planning system was created in 1947.
But the proposals are an attempt to "destroy" the planning system, according to Dezeen columnist Owen Hatherley, who noted that while affordable housing was a focus of the white paper, the question of social housing was conspicuously ab...