Think tank proposes radical reform of the planning system

Radical proposals to abolish the current plan-led system in favour of a virtually wholly locally-determined regime based on the presumption of a right to develop, have been proposed by an influential think tank.

This call to fundamentally recast the planning system has come from the Policy Exchange in a report it has commissioned. The report also argues the case for a new tax to replace all charges associated with development, a move which would mean the scrapping of section 106 agreements.

Local and central government has reacted warily to the proposals. The Local Government Association said the report was "a challenging study by a well-established think tank in an area of policy that cries out for innovative solutions".

But the LGA added: "There are serious problems with some of the ideas put forward that appear to promote business interests at the expense of the views of local people."

The report has urged greater freedom for property owners to switch between designated uses, the introduction of so-called "land buffers" and a moratorium on the development of any urban green space, including gardens.

Central to the report's arguments was the need for local government financial reform, which is translated into proposals for a new tax – called the Social Cost Tariff - which would be worth a maximum of £500,000 per hectare, less for contaminated brownfield sites or where councils were planning for growth. All this tax revenue would go to the local authority.

Under the new regime advocated by the report, local authorities would be set minimum building targets by central government and would lose revenue if they failed to build up to the minimum level.

The report insisted such reforms were needed because the existing "centrally-directed, plan-led" planning system "places too much emphasis on trying to predict demand and too little on responding to local market conditions".

Publication of the report coincided with a new poll for Policy Exchange by Populus which revealed that, despite rising incomes, 75 per cent of respondents believe that a family home with a garden is less affordable than 20 years ago.

The poll also showed widespread concern with building on parks, playing fields and allotments.

Nicolas Boles, director of Policy Exchange, said: "The government's policy of cramming people into multi-storey blocks in crowded cities means that a family home with a garden is becoming a luxury few can afford. We need to build more houses but this must be done in a way that respects the needs of the environment."

He insisted: "Our proposals will compensate communities for the cost of development and encourage more house building."

View the report 'Better Homes, Greener Cities' here (PDF 359 Kb).

Roger Milne

3 March 2006