The Government recently announced sweeping and long overdue reforms to our planning system.
The reality sadly is that we are far slower than other European countries at building homes. In 2018 we built 2.25 homes per 1000 people. Germany managed 3.6, the Netherlands 3.8, France 6.
Why is this? It is because we have too much red tape and bureaucracy that sucks up time and momey unnecessarily.
Therefore I am delighted to see these reforms and appreciate the Government announcing the ‘Planning for the future’ white paper, which is an open consultation, ending in late October, on these reforms.
I will be submitting a full and detailed response.
However, I wanted to use how to raise concerns with the Secretary of State for Communities, Housing and Local Government, Robert Jenrick, over the proposed ‘Infrastructure Levy’ and how it’s replacement of Section 106 could impact places like Stoke-on-Trent, Kidsgrove and Talke.