Deputy Prime Minister (Angela Rayner) has written to housing industry stakeholders earlier this week, reminding them of the government’s plan to build the homes the country needs. The letter has been sent to stakeholders, but also a separate one sent to local authority leaders, mayors and chief executives of local authorities. The letter starts bluntly, stating; ‘We inherited an acute and entrenched housing crisis’ and goes on to outline last year’s changes to the NPPF aimed at getting the housebuilding sector moving again and highlights the monies made available to local authorities to increase staffing capacity. Housing Minister (Matthew Pennycook) has already written to the President of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) to convey a clear message on behalf of government, to professional planners, outlining the vital role of professional planners in facilitating the building the homes needed. The Housing Minister, in his letter to the planning profession, ended it by saying ‘We look forward to continuing to work with planners across the sector to proactively deliver positive change.’
Directors Brett Spiller and Giles Moir commented; We welcomed the positive and proactive changes by government in last years revised NPPF aimed primarily at getting housebuilding numbers up. It is refreshing to see the new year has started with the government continuing this theme and writing to those concerned with housebuilding to keep the momentum of change rolling. Sending out separate letters to key stakeholders – including planning officers and council leaders, sends a clear message that housebuilding plays a key role in government strategy and will seemingly continue to attract close government scrutiny in order to ensure increased housebuilding takes place. We look forward to experiencing this ‘positivity’ across our dealings with local authorities – only by planners across all sectors (and that includes councillors and planning committees) pulling proactively together, will the governments ambitions be realised.
