The RIBA’s Reaction to Labour Planning Reform

Former Chair of the RIBA Planning Advisory Group, Philip Waddy, has assisted the Institute in formulating the RIBA’s response to the current consultation on changes to the National Planning Policy Framework.

Before we examine what RIBA President Muyiwa Oki has to say, Philip shares his initial thoughts with us as we delve into the historical facts and figures that underpin the current housing situation. We asked Philip three short questions…

Will the shake-up of the NPPF lead to quick increases in new build numbers?

“In terms of housing growth, the private sector alone cannot achieve the government’s annual delivery target. You have to go back to the Wilson government of the 1960s to get anywhere near that target, but back then, half of all housing was built by the State. The private sector, on the other hand, has consistently delivered, on average, 200,000 new homes each year over the past few decades. I can’t see that number changing significantly.”

425,840 new homes were built in 1968 if you add together those built by private companies, housing associations, and Local Authorities. (Statista) Harold Wilson’s Labour Manifesto of 1964 contains a few clues, including public ownership of development land, subsidising interest rates for housing borrowers, and reforming legislation around renting. If you are interested in further reading on this topic, we found the Red Brick Blog, a helpful start. The graph highlights UK housing trends over time; since the 1980s, housing built by local authorities has fallen to virtually zero. Housing supply comes primarily from the private sector.

Why Don’t We Just Build Whole New Towns?

“On the question of new towns, this can deliver housing in bulk but the time taken to allocate land, design the layouts, obtain planning permission (with the myriad legal agreements that come with development consent), then install basic infrastructure and build out the housing is such that this can only be a solution to a future generational housing crisis. It won’t solve today’s problems. For that, we need a multitude of smaller-scale developments to deliver.”

What do Milton Keynes, Telford, and Warrington have in common? You guessed it—they are historic examples of some of the UK’s ‘New Towns’—but specifically, they are part of the third wave of the aforementioned town planning movement that occurred during the Labour government of Harold Wilson. Starmer’s Manifesto does not pave the way for a fourth wave—perhaps a result of the short-termism baked into the current political climate. Our own Urban Design expert, Johnathan Headland, opined on such matters in his recent article about reforms to Green Belt policy under Labour, which is titled Follow the Red Route to the Grey Belt.

Our final hot take from Philip’s thoughts for the RIBA, comes not from his experience as an architect but from the business of leading an architectural practice. WWA Studios is 138 years old, with Philip’s tenure at the helm of the practice spanning multiple recessions and global crises.

How Could Reforms Go Further or What Other Related Legislation Is Needed?

“There is much to support in the proposed changes and whilst the emphasis is clearly focused on increased housebuilding, the Government must not overlook the contribution SMEs make to economic growth. Employers and small businesses are the lifeblood of the economy and for this sector an agile and flexible approach to planning that can react quickly to economic change is important.”

Part of the role of the RIBA is to develop a policy position on matters relating to the profession and take this forward to lobby the government. As part of a government press release on planning reform RIBA president Muyiwa Oki said…

“A shake-up of our decrepit planning system will be vital to our housebuilding revolution. As architects, we now stand ready to act as a critical friend to government, to make sure we get these reforms right, to enable the design and delivery of the next generation of homes our country so desperately needs.”

You can read the full article titled ‘Housing targets increased to get Britain building again’.

Sources:

New housing builds graph: https://www.economicshelp.org/blog/7243/housing/housing-supply-in-uk/