Planning consultation rules should be changed to prevent ‘NIMBYs’ blocking much-needed new housing developments, a new report commissioned by Leeds Building Society has argued.
A report called The Case for Inclusive Planning which is authored by research group Public First argues that local authorities and developers should widen community consultation on developments if the country is to hit its housebuilding targets.
The report states: “A key issue is that the planning system is often dominated by vocal minorities who oppose new developments, often known as NIMBYs.
"These minorities tend to overshadow the needs and preferences of the wider community, many of whom are in favour of more housing. The current planning system places too much emphasis on these views, rather than ensuring that the perspectives of the entire community are fairly considered.
"This imbalance prevents the level of housebuilding needed to meet demand.”
The paper added the current system in which planning applications are opened to consultation but requires people to proactively submit comments has led to a situation where “the majority of respondents are over 55, disproportionately affluent and disproportionately likely to be home owners”.
It argues that hearing from a more representative cross section of voices earlier in the planning process – rather than only those opposed to individual schemes once they are drawn up – will create a fairer system that reduces barriers to homeownership.
The report highlights the success of the creation of a ‘citizens’ panel’ in Hutt City in New Zealand which proved to be “50 per cent more supportive of more housing than the traditional UK approach”.
A report called The Case for Inclusive Planning which is authored by research group Public First argues that local authorities and developers should widen community consultation on developments if the country is to hit its housebuilding targets.
The report states: “A key issue is that the planning system is often dominated by vocal minorities who oppose new developments, often known as NIMBYs.
"These minorities tend to overshadow the needs and preferences of the wider community, many of whom are in favour of more housing. The current planning system places too much emphasis on these views, rather than ensuring that the perspectives of the entire community are fairly considered.
"This imbalance prevents the level of housebuilding needed to meet demand.”
The paper added the current system in which planning applications are opened to consultation but requires people to proactively submit comments has led to a situation where “the majority of respondents are over 55, disproportionately affluent and disproportionately likely to be home owners”.
It argues that hearing from a more representative cross section of voices earlier in the planning process – rather than only those opposed to individual schemes once they are drawn up – will create a fairer system that reduces barriers to homeownership.
The report highlights the success of the creation of a ‘citizens’ panel’ in Hutt City in New Zealand which proved to be “50 per cent more supportive of more housing than the traditional UK approach”.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Hi, Chris Byrne here, Yorkshire Post business and features editor. Now you'll probably have heard,
00:07if you follow politics, a lot about Labour's plans to build 1.5 million new houses across the country
00:14to address shortages in this area. A really interesting new report's come out this week
00:20from Leeds Building Society and an organisation called Public First and what they're arguing
00:26is that to deliver that target there needs to be a change in the way that consultations are done
00:30on planning proposals for new housing. So currently, the system is that if you want
00:37to build a few hundred houses in somewhere like Sheffield, you put in an application,
00:41if you're the developer, it's open to a consultation, people can have their say,
00:46but they have to kind of proactively get in touch to have their say. They say, Leeds Building
00:52Society and Public First argue that skewed the system in favour of people who are objecting to a scheme
00:59because they're more likely to get in touch, whereas those in favour probably either don't know
01:05about the consultation or just won't say much about it. They say that changing it, and they
01:11give the example of the citizens panel that's been set up in New Zealand, changing the system to be
01:16more representative would unlock more housing. The other side of the coin is that
01:24organisations like the County Councils Network have warned that Labour's increased housing targets
01:29could lead to a developer free-for-all and basically schemes that aren't particularly
01:35appropriate to a local area are more likely to be given the go-ahead. So it's going to be really
01:39interesting to see how councils manage to strike the balance between reflecting the views fairly
01:47of those who are against schemes and may have good reasons to be against them,
01:51but also meeting these targets that are being imposed by the government.