The government-commissioned report has demanded a complete overhaul of the planning process to make it easier and quicker for applications to be processed and appeals to be heard, with less interference from government.
Barker also advocates charging owners of brownfield sites if land is left derelict and greater emphasis on the use of greenbelt land, with boundaries redrawn to make them more ‘relevant and appropriate’.
The report stated: ‘The land that can be developed with the least likely environmental or wider social impact is low-value agricultural land with little landscape quality and limited public access.
Regional and local planning bodies should review their greenbelt boundaries to ensure they remain relevant and appropriate.’
However, while the report has been criticised by environmental groups, it has been welcomed by the mortgage industry as a vital step in easing the chronic shortage of housing in the UK.
Alan Cleary, managing director of edeus, commented: “We are building fewer houses than at any time since the war and while the government is targeting 200,000 homes a year, I think it needs to be closer to 300,000. The big issue stopping this is the planning process, which is so fraught with hurdles that most applications fail, which then fuels house prices. Anything which improves this has to be welcomed.”
Rachel Snow, head of external affairs at the Building Societies Association, added: “This doesn’t strike me as a report that will be kicked into the long grass. It shows recognition that one of the only ways to tackle affordability is to tackle the issue of supply and demand. The only way to do this is to build more homes and that will only happen when we win the battle over planning laws.”
