The current rate of supply and quality of housing in Britain is inadequate and something must be done. Rather than the centralising control set out in the planning white paper, I would far rather government had picked up on the recommendations made by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) in April for planning reform in England. This included investment in local authority planning departments and a major grants programme to stimulate homebuilding by local authorities, housing associations and SMEs.

Instead, the RTPI has concluded there is little evidence the reforms proposed in the government’s planning white paper will make planning faster and more flexible. I share the RTPI’s view that the plans and design codes capable of dealing with appropriate complexity will take time to develop.

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