The Government's proposed reform of the planning system has been put on hold by the new Housing Minister, Michael Gove.
The proposals to reform the planning system were put forward in August 2020 and would see the establishment of three planning zones designed to speed up the decision making process. Areas would be classified as a protected zone, renewal zone or growth zone, with protected areas seeing a restriction of development, whilst growth zones would see development that conforms to pre-agreed plans being initially automatically approved.
However, the proposals have attracted heavy criticism for their emphasis on speed, whilst former Prime Minister Theresa May warned that they would "build up planning permissions, but no houses". Evidence suggests that under the current planning system, the issue is not with obtaining planning permission but with actually delivering the homes once planning permission is granted. In the current climate, housing delivery is likely to become slower as long as supply issues persist. Though proposals to utilise more digital technologies in the future planning system seem to have been supported.
Some reports also suggest that MPs are worried about the backlash it may have in terms of their constituencies, especially as the Conservatives lost their seat of Chesham and Amersham in 2021 with concerns about increased house building a likely contributor to the loss.
Mr Gove has paused the planning reforms so that he can begin to process and address concerns from MPs, including those of Conservative MPs.
