Planning changed Britain for the better in the postwar years – and it can do the same now | Phineas Harper

Labour’s proposals for reform are a start, but the system needs to be more ambitious, more imaginative and more proactive

New rules could allow local authorities across England to purchase land for house building at affordable prices, even when landowners don’t want to sell. Under draft legislation, councils would be given more powers to issue compulsory purchase orders, forcing landowners to hand over sites that could host housing schemes in return for “fair but not excessive” payments.

The proposals are part of the government’s ambitious attempts to get Britain “back to building”, coming hot on the heels of the deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, unveiling substantial changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) last month intended to revivify the UK’s ailing planning system. After the Tories presided over a period of planning chaos which saw backlogs spiral, major infrastructure projects cancelled, 16 housing ministers in only 14 years and housebuilding fall to its lowest level in England for a decade, does Labour have what it takes to create a futureproof, vision-led planning system?

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/1R5VrbN