In August 2020 the government published “Planning for the Future", a long-awaited white paper setting out their vision for fundamental reform of the planning system. The proposed changes had three main objectives: to streamline the labyrinthine system; to improve the quality of new developments; and to ensure more new homes are built.
When local authorities in England are currently planning to deliver just 190,000 homes a year and the government believes some 300,000 need to be built annually to start to address the housing crisis, the proposals are likely to result in a step-change in build rates.
That, understandably, became the focus of media coverage - encouraged by various anti-development lobby groups who have been heavily critical of the proposals.
To some, however, the changes represent an opportunity. Landowners who own perfectly sensible development sites but who have so far been prevented from contributing to the housing supply by complicated planning rules were much more welcoming of the proposals.
The Telegraph reported that The Strategic Land Group saw a 35% year-on-year increase in inquiries from landowners, including a 150% increase from those with sites in London and the South East.
Our managing director, Paul Smith, told the paper that “People saw the headlines and thought maybe these reforms will mean that we could have a chance to sell that bit of land now. It is people who have inherited a couple of acres on the edge of a town or who own a house with a large garden with an access track.”
