Interesting to see Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England, talking about ‘deep, structural issues’ in the UK housing market.

So what responsibility does planning have to help addressing the housing crisis? Planning has been identified as a handbrake on growth by many, and I’ve not been shy in adding my name to that point of view.  However, in my opinion, the biggest block on changing housing delivery is not planning.  It’s also not house builders and developers; the Home Builders Federation’s recent research into ‘land banking’ proved as much.

The biggest blockage is politics – and politicians, and this in endemic at both the local and national level.  For example, in no less than three different London Boroughs I was told as far back as last October not to bother putting in planning applications for residential development because of the spectre of local elections.  Firstly, it is incredibly frustrating that the redevelopment of brownfield sites for much needed flats and homes was to be seized on as a political issue.  Secondly, schemes that were ready to be submitted have been the subject of a seven month delay, resulting in accumulated holding costs for clients, which inevitably increases the cost of development, and puts pressure on the same provision of affordable housing and Section 106 contributions as existed last Autumn.  And of course, house prices have continued to rise in the interim.