BPF responds to consultation on reforms to the national planning policy

Article summary

The British Property Federation (BPF) has responded to the consultation 'Levelling up and Regeneration Bill: Reforms to National Planning policy'. In its response, the BPF expressed concerns that the proposed changes to national planning policy would undermine the government's goal of delivering 300,000 new homes per year and restrict the development of employment space needed to drive economic growth. The BPF noted changes in how local authorities assess housing needs would reduce the urgency of bringing forward residential development. The BPF also highlighted contradictions between the policy to focus on housing delivery in 20 of the UK's largest towns and cities and the proposed easing of green belt review requirements with most of the urban areas identified for housing growth surrounded by a green belt or undeveloped land. Finally, the BPF argued that a decline in housing delivery would decrease land allocation for employment uses, affecting economic growth and productivity and called...