Radix Big Tent – which convened last year’s Housing Commission chaired by Dame Kate Barker until her appointment to the New Towns – welcomes the Government’s Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which includes many of the Commission’s key recommendations.  

The Bill represents a good first step but continued collaboration and coordination across the housing ecosystem is needed to ensure the Bill is effectively implemented and translates into new homes delivery.  That’s why we are giving the Bill seven out of ten.

The Bill seeks to put into action many of the Commission’s fifteen key recommendations set out in our report Beyond the Permacrisis – Delivering 1,000 Homes a Day.  They include the welcomed reintroduction of strategic planning, compulsory purchase reform and strengthening of the role of Development Corporations.  We also welcome the streamlining of planning decisions.

The Government will, however, need to complement such measures by building consensus and collaboration across Government and Parliament for housing delivery, adopting recommendations for a new cross-departmental Housing Delivery Unit and establishing a cross-party accord to create policy consensus.

And much more action will be needed to streamline existing funding pots, encourage institutional investment and diversify the market by expanding the role of SMEs.

Historically, there has been a real failure to link new housing with infrastructure delivery, so the premise of this Bill is most welcome.  However, the scale of the challenge is such that this can only be a first step, if the Government is serious about delivering 1,000 homes a day.

Ben Rich, Chief Executive, Radix Big Tent and member of the RBT Housing Commission

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