“Whilst any efforts to remove barriers to housing delivery are laudable, the Government’s amendments to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill are merely tinkering around the edges.
“We require a national planning policy with a presumption in favour of all housing projects that provide a balance of compliance. The Government must recognise the value of renting and its innovation, supporting the sector in the same fashion that it supports home ownership.
“The private rented sector, and especially Build to Rent, moves faster than the ‘for sale’ sector, helping to increase the speed of development overall and is an essential part of a mixed tenure approach. It’s time to pull the Build to Rent lever to deliver the additional new homes so greatly sought after by both the Government and the population.
“We do welcome however the amendment to the proposed Bill that each local planning authority shall appoint a chief planner with appropriate qualifications and experience for the role and reiterate our call to include specific training on Build to Rent, in all its forms, as part of mandatory training for planning committees, certain mayoral planning functions and chief planners.”
Brendan Geraghty
CEO, Association for Rental Living