The new Communities Secretary should press ahead with reform of the planning system to help fight the rural housing crisis…
The CLA has called on new Communities Secretary Sajid Javid to do more to help with the shortage of homes in rural communities.
CLA, which represents farmers and rural businesses, said Javid should press ahead with “vital reform” of the planning system to ensure more homes are built.
The statement was made in response to a new report from the House of Lords Economic Affairs Select Committee. The ‘Building More Homes’ report outlines the issues in the homebuilding sector and puts forward recommendations of how the government can tackle them.
CLA President Ross Murray said: “Our new Communities Secretary must understand how the current planning system holds back development and press ahead with vital reform.
“He must help create the right conditions to build houses and provide the rental homes that rural communities desperately need.”
Among the recommendations in the report is the increase of planning fees. The report said these should be higher than the current limit. Furthermore, local authorities should have the ability to increase and change these as necessary.
Murray said: “The planning system already prevents rural business development because of the complexity and costs involved.
“This prevents many proposals from coming forward that would otherwise provide valuable rural economic growth.
“An increase in planning fees must be proportionate with the nature and scale of the development to avoid suffocating the rural economy and damaging the delivery of homes, job creation and better quality wages in rural areas.
“There must be a discernible improvement in planning authority service levels for higher fees to be justified.
“Mr Javid has the opportunity to provide rural businesses with the certainty they need to invest in the right developments in the right places, helping to solve to the housing crisis in rural areas.”