Government proposals to allow well-performing local authorities to increase their planning application fees have been supported by the property industry.
The British Property Federation (BPF) has also hailed government plans to allow local authorities to compete to process planning applications.
Melanie Leech, Chief Executive of the BPF, said both the public and private sectors had expressed their frustration with the lack of resources in some local authority planning departments and its negative impact on development.
“The proposals announced today go some way [in] to address that dissatisfaction, and we are delighted to see that Government has listened to the industry and is trying to tackle this,” said Melanie.
“A carrot-and-stick approach to planning application fees, whereby those local authorities who perform well are rewarded for their performance, is something that we have advocated for a long time.”
Melanie said rewarding local authorities that are performing well in times of constrained public finances should inspire those that are under-performing to emulate them.
“Also, allowing local authorities to fast-track and even outsource the processing of planning applications should be a further boost to struggling authorities, and will help to bring about important development and regeneration opportunities,” allowing Melanie.
“Combined, these two measures should be welcome news for developers and local authorities alike.”
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