PLANNING has been blamed time and again in recent years for holding back much needed house-building. So it was good to hear Baroness Young of Old Scone say, at a recent talk in Wiltshire, that land supply and planning are not blockages; the planning system is the jewel in the crown.

Baroness Young was a member of a committee in the House of Lords which produced a report on 'Building Better Places'. The government response is awaited.

So what are the blockages to housebuilding? The government has simplified the planning system almost to its destruction and has brought in austerity measures that have starved local authorities of cash. It has introduced a viability clause so developers can argue that it is too expensive to build and give contributions to infrastructure and services so they do not have to build to a high eco standard or to build so many affordable houses.

The five-year land supply is a vague policy that allows a developer to argue this land has not been provided by the local authority because, for example, not all the allocated land is deliverable. As a result, the developer’s land, which is not allocated in the local plans, can be developed. Indeed, in the push to build houses, there have been many appeal decisions where the five-year land supply has overridden social and environmental considerations. Highly valued areas of land that have been fought over for years have been lost. But the fact remains that permissions are up, land supplies are up and yet not enough houses are being built, and more particularly the right houses in the right places.

So if planning is not the blockage, what is?

Research has shown that, in the past, many more houses were built by local authorities than by private sector house-builders. Indeed, shareholders of the large housebuilders require maximum returns so their incentive is to build slowly in order to maintain high house prices.

The House of Lords committee is calling for local authorities to be allowed and encouraged to build again. They need more money. At present they cannot afford specialist planners.

Baroness Young explained that viability clauses are tilting against local democracy. The policy for zero carbon homes has been lost. Infrastructure needs updating. Giving housing association tenants the right to buy was not moving in the right direction.

Design is sporadic. There should be a champion for design standards and place making, who would report annually to Parliament.

Moreover, as CPRE points out, the housing target relies on speed and quantity; this threatens quality and place-making.

Baroness Young deplored the loss of details in the National Planning Policy Framework. The details used to be there and were a great help to the public and the local planning authorities when reaching decisions. She said that neighbourhood plans are crucial.

When will the pendulum swing to following the recommendations of the House of Lords committee so there is once again care about a sense of place, plans are carefully prepared and upheld, brown fields are given priority and local authorities can help with Building Better Places?