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Pincher backs thinktank’s call to replace planning consent with ‘delivery contracts’

Housing minister Christopher Pincher has backed a new report calling for planning consent to be replaced by “delivery contracts”.

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Picture: Getty
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Housing minister @ChrisPincher has backed a new report calling for planning consent to be replaced by “delivery contracts” #UKhousing

In a paper published today titled The Housing Guarantee, Thatcherite thinktank the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) said planning permissions are a “one-way gift” for developers boosting land value with no obligation to deliver homes.

The system has helped create a “bottle-neck” that concentrates land supply in the hands of giant house builders, it argued, with the six biggest builders holding around a million plots in their strategic land banks.

To combat the issue, the report called for small and medium-sized builders (SMEs) to be given a greater role, including by getting priority for public land sold for housing.

It also proposed turning planning permission into delivery contracts binding developers to agreed timeframes for building.

House builders unable to meet the timeframes would have to pass the land on to local SMEs.

The report also recommended placing greater emphasis on the Housing Delivery Test for councils.


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Mr Pincher said: “This CPS report is a very welcome contribution to the debate around both housebuilding and planning reform.

“I am particularly pleased that the report has highlighted the important role that SMEs can and should play in delivering more homes and helping the United Kingdom’s economy build back better.

“A successful SME sector is crucial in our shared objectives of planning reform and increased housebuilding.”

The report was authored by Alex Morton, head of policy at the CPS.

Mr Morton was previously responsibly for housing, planning and local government in Number 10’s policy unit under David Cameron and head of housing policy at the Policy Exchange thinktank.

CPS describes itself as Britain’s leading centre-right thinktank and previously topped a poll of the most influential thinktanks among Conservative MPs.

The government has previously adopted housing and planning policies first proposed by centre-right thinktanks.

In summer, ministers laid out ambitious proposals to overhaul England’s planning system which would divide land into three categories, with sites in the “growth” category subject to automatic planning permission.

Mr Morton said: “The government’s planning reforms are very welcome. But we need to focus on delivery and learn from previous attempts to fix England’s housing supply problems.

“The reforms we are proposing would help create a new, better planning system that focuses on ensuring delivery, working alongside the other proposals government is bringing forward.

“We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to fix these issues, and with a planning bill under way, now is the time for action.”

In England, the top six house builders control around a third of the market, while the proportion of new homes built by SMEs has fallen from 40% in the 1980s to around 10% today.

The report was part-funded by developer Regal London.

Jonathan Seal, chief executive of Regal London, said: “We welcome today’s report from the CPS and support comments from the minister.

“Both make clear the important role that SMEs have to play in shaping the debate about housebuilding and planning reform.”

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