Planning system ‘set up to fail’ as housing crisis gets worse, say councillors
Councillors nationwide now agree with many developers that Britain’s planning system is “set up to fail” and is contributing to the housing crisis.
The latest National Planning Barometer, a survey of more than 300 councillors undertaken by SEC Newgate, a consultancy, found two thirds thought the housing crisis was getting worse. A similar proportion agreed that housing supply in their local area was “somewhat” or “severely” lacking.
The report concluded that there was “a crisis of resource that sees local authority planning departments unable to deliver the service on which [the] system relies”.
Six in ten of those surveyed said their planning teams lacked the resources to do a timely and effective job, echoing the concerns of developers. Just over half said planners were