Can ‘permission in principle’ for new housing in England increase certainty, reduce ‘planning risk’, and accelerate housing supply?

Nick Gallent, Claudio de Magalhaes, Sonia Freire Trigo, Kathleen Scanlon and Christine M E Whitehead

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: In this article we examine the probable impact of moving towards ‘up front’ planning permission for housing schemes in England, on development pace and future housing supply. That examination draws on interviews and focus groups with planning professionals, house builders, land promoters and others involved in land development. We begin by exploring the apparent effect of planning and ‘regulatory risk’ on development, before examining strategies, including upfront ‘permission in principle’ (PiP), that claim the potential to reduce that risk and deliver greater certainty for the development sector. The broader focus for this article is how those compliance-based strategies might operate in England’s otherwise discretionary planning system, in which the power to scrutinise and make decisions rests with local government and elected politicians, and what benefits they might bring.

Keywords: Planning risk; housing; UK; Permission in principle; discretionary planning (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G32 Q15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 17 pages
Date: 2019-10-16
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ore and nep-ure
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Published in Planning Theory and Practice, 16, October, 2019, 20(5), pp. 673-688. ISSN: 1464-9357

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:lserod:102124

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