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Podcast episode 142: All Builders Big and Small

Podcast episode 142 is available now via this link or from iTunes and Spotify.

It has been another exciting few weeks in the fast-paced, ever-changing rock and roll world of town and country planning has it not?
 
“Thousands of new homes promised to communities will be delivered faster, thanks to major changes to make sure developers deliver on their commitments and do not leave sites half-finished for years”, announced a MHCLG press release on Sunday 25 May.
 
“This government has taken radical steps to overhaul the planning system to get Britain building again after years of inaction. In the name of delivering security for working people, we are backing the builders not the blockers. Now it’s time for developers to roll up their sleeves and play their part”, said Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary Angela Rayner.
 
A planning reform working paper on speeding up build out ​​and a technical consultation on implementing measures to improve build out transparency​ were published by MHCLG on the same day.
Then a few days later, Wednesday 28 May to be precise, another MHCLG press release announced that the Government backs SME builders to get Britain building.
 
“Smaller housebuilders must be the bedrock of our Plan for Change to build 1.5 million homes and fix the housing crisis we’ve inherited – and get working people on the housing ladder. For decades the status quo has failed them and it’s time to level the playing field. Today we’re taking urgent action to make the system simpler, fairer and more cost effective, so smaller housebuilders can play a crucial role in our journey to get Britain building”, said Ms Rayner.
 
A planning reform working paper on reforming site thresholds; a technical consultation on the reform of planning committees; and an open consultation on improving the implementation of biodiversity net gain for minor, medium and brownfield development were published by MHCLG and DEFRA on the same day.
 
What are we to make of all of that?
 
Helpfully, I was in London a couple of weeks ago and was able to solicit some expert opinion and insight from old friends of the podcast Andrew Taylor, Simon Ricketts and Shelly Rouse, and new friends of the podcast Gordon Adams and Rachel Clements.
 
Andrew is Group Planning Director at Vistry, Simon is a Partner at Town Legal; and Shelly is a Principal Consultant at the Planning Advisory Service. Gordon relatively recently founded Rubix Strategy having been Head of Planning & Public Affairs at Battersea Power Station, and Rachel is a Planning Director at Lichfields.
 
In a conversation recorded over the space of an hour or so at Soho Radio Studios we tried to get through as much of this latest round of consultations as we could. So we talked about the plight of the SME builder and the merits of the proposed medium site category; we talked about who does and does not bring land forward and why; and we touched on BNG and the proposed national scheme of delegation.


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