Commenting on the Chancellor’s Plans for Housing and Planning reform Maxwell Marlow, Director of Research at the Adam Smith Institute said:

“ New housing and infrastructure is directly correlated with economic growth. So we welcome the Chancellor’s plans to introduce supply-side reforms, in particular re-introducing mandatory house building targets, reversing the ban on onshore wind, and plans to make decisions about vital infrastructure nationally, not locally.

There are ways she should go further. A new task-force and 300 extra planning officers will reduce the backlog and speed up the approvals process, but this could be accelerated further if all planning applications are automatically approved after 6 weeks. She will also need to consider that there is a significant labour and skills gap in the planning and construction industry. We also hope too that a review into the greenbelt boundary results in the release of land within a 10 minute walk of a train station for development, as we have previously called for.

Overall, this indicates a seriousness of purpose in fixing one of the greatest drags on Britain’s prosperity. But ultimately, these plans must be based on results rather than intentions.”

ENDS

Notes to editors:

For further comments or to arrange an interview, contact Emily Fielder, emily@adamsmith.org | 0758 477 8207.

The Adam Smith Institute is one of the world’s leading think tanks. It is ranked first in the world among independent think tanks and as the best domestic and international economic policy think tank in the UK by the University of Pennsylvania. Independent, non-profit and non-partisan, the Institute is at the forefront of making the case for free markets and a free society, through education, research, publishing, and media outreach.