The revised NPPF looks to encourage councils to use innovative visual tools to promote better design and quality homes and has granted them more powers to refuse developments which do not prioritise design quality.
However, Richard Beresford, chief executive at the NFB, felt the revised NPPF was not radical thinking but ponderous progress.
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“Despite some positives, 99% of the construction industry has been overlooked.
“The government has missed a golden opportunity to put this country on the road to addressing its housing crisis and solving the broken housing market.”
Meanwhile, Lord Porter, chairman at the LGA, felt that the government needed to end national policies which undermined the local voice of councils and communities.
“This includes scrapping permitted development rights that allow developers to convert offices into homes without planning permission.
“Ultimately, the private sector will never build enough of the homes the country needs on its own.
“The government must back the widespread calls – including from the Treasury select committee – for council borrowing and investment freedoms to spark a renaissance in housebuilding by local government.”
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