News / Economy

UK planning shake-up to boost new homes

Friday, 10 July 2015 12:10 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 10 July 2015 12:10 PM ]

The Conservatives say that last year a 141,000 new homes were built, but this is nowhere near the number needed to meet the growing demand for housing.

As the UK faces a housing crisis, the Conservative government is putting in new laws to facilitate construction of new homes.

The Chancellor George Osborne has announced a change to the country's planning laws to allow for more homes to be built as the country faces a shortage of affordable homes.

The Conservatives say that last year a 141,000 new homes were built, but this is nowhere near the number needed to meet the demand for housing.

Osborne's plan is to allow for automatic planning permission on industrial land that is not being used. However critics claim there is not enough disused industrial land that can be developed on to help solve the housing crisis in the UK.

"Britain has been incapable of building enough homes. The reforms we made to the planning system in the last parliament have started to improve the situation, planning permissions and housing starts are at a seven-year high. But we need to go further and I am not prepared to stand by when people who want to get on the housing ladder can't do so. We'll keep on protecting the green belt, but these latest planning reforms are a vital part of a comprehensive plan to confront the challenge of our lifetime and raise productivity and living standards,” Britain’s Chancellor of Exchequer was quoted as saying by the British media.

Some are also concerned Osborne’s new plans will not give local people a say in planning to effectively nationalize it. However Sajid Javid, the business secretary, refuted the argument, saying “local people will still have control over planning.”

Experts have said the new plans by the Chancellor are definitely a move away from the localism agenda that was in place during the coalition government.

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