The UK’s housing crisis has “significantly” worsened in the past 12 months thanks to the broken planning system and a range of multi-faceted issues which have prevented the delivery of new homes, according to a survey of planning authorities in England and Wales.
The survey of 416 planning committee members, undertaken by strategic communications and advocacy consultant SEC Newgate, found two thirds of councillors rate the degree of the housing crisis in their local area as “severe” – a significant increase on 2023, when just over half of respondents perceived there to be a severe housing crisis.
Three quarters of councillors said the crisis has worsened over the past 12 months, both nationally and in their local area, while just 1% of councillors think the housing crisis is easing.
Councillors sitting on planning committees rate increasing the provision of affordable housing as their top priority – 30% put it as their top priority and 70% rated it among their top five priorities, well ahead of any other issue.
Perry Miller, head of advocacy local at SEC Newgate, which unveiled the results of its National Planning Barometer at UKREiiF in Leeds, said: “We know the housing crisis is only getting worse, but the findings in SEC Newgate’s latest National Planning Barometer send out a stark warning that we’re in the eye of a perfect storm and at risk of total housing failure without significant interventions. It’s all too easy to blame the planning system. That it’s broken is not in dispute, but it alone is not to blame for the failure to deliver homes.
“Public policy, government funding, market provision, community interest and discretionary decision-making at planning committees are all at play in the response to the social and economic need for homes. The actions and agendas of multiple actors make the issue of housing delivery a highly complex one to grapple with, and there is no silver bullet. We’re at a tipping point and need change from all those working to deliver the homes the country needs.”
