The trade association has voiced its support after deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, who is also housing secretary, recently gave an interview where she told councils to “get your plans in order.”
The Labour government has made delivering 1.5 million housing over the current parliament a major policy commitment, with planning reform at the centre of this.
This has seen several initiatives introduced to accelerate housing delivery where applications are stuck awaiting approval. At times, senior government officials have directly pushed through stalled applications in recent months.
The government has also published further plans that will see local planning committees bypassed “entirely” under the right circumstances.
NFB CEO Richard Beresford has welcomed the approach that he hopes will remove politics from planning.
“Planning committees deferring or battling policy compliant planning applications harm smaller builders the most, as they do not have the finances to hire expensive consultants and legal teams to turn a three-year battle into a year-long one,” added Richard.
“This doesn’t serve planners well either, who despite being hired as experts to make these judgments, are constantly over-ruled.”
His sentiments were echoed by colleague and head of policy and market insight Rico Wojtulewicz.
Rico added this approach is about following a rules-based system, and not “ignoring local people.”
“In planning and housing, the Conservative government left Labour a poisoned chalice and although reforms have not come quickly enough to save some companies from leaving the industry, there are clear indications that Labour will create an environment which is consistent and Angela Rayner is proving that she intends to live up to her government’s promises,” said Rico.
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