Planning Committee members, are you failing in your one job?

This week, a report came out by the British Building Societies Association (BSA). The report said that first-time buyers are facing the toughest conditions in 70 years to buy a home. It found that those buying a first home were increasingly reliant on having two high incomes (not low or middle, HIGH… and how many people in their 20s and 30s have those high incomes?) or having to rely on the bank of mum and dad (if you are lucky enough to have parents with extra dosh).

The Resolution Foundation think tank recently said that the most common living arrangement for an adult aged between 18 and 34 in 1997 was being in a couple with children, but now it was living with your parents. And as nice as it might be to have a cooked dinner every night and your washing done by mum, your life is on hold… It’s not like you can really bring a loved one back to the house for a romantic candle-lit dinner with your mum and dad watching Gogglebox in the living room.

On that point of the bank of mum and dad… a whole generation have been priced out and are "stuck" renting from private landlords. There is now a generation whose children are fast approaching their 20s and thinking about buying homes and their parents are part of “generation rent”, so they stand absolutely no chance of a nice fat cheque from the parents.

Paul Broadhead, head of mortgage and housing policy at the BSA, said: "Becoming a first-time buyer is possibly the most expensive it has been over at least the last 70 years, but a properly functioning housing market is dependent on first-time buyers being able to afford their first home adding that "New thinking and radical changes are needed."

He is of course absolutely right: changes are needed. The number of times I have recently seen planning applications with an officer’s recommendation for approval go to a Planning Committee, only for the Committee (made up of elected Councillors) to then do a hatchet job on the application on the night, come up with all sorts of non-material grounds to refuse it or maybe some very flimsy ones (some subjective rubbish about design is a favourite).

It is of course very nice and well for me to sit here pontificating about it, but what is the solution?

First of all, every Councillor needs to realise that whilst they are elected to serve a whole community and NOT just the NIMBYs who shout at them about a planning application. They have a duty to the whole community and especially to the future community… the next generation can’t all live rabbit-hutch sized subdivided semis.

Secondly, I really would urge the future Labour Government to bring in an accredited qualification that ALL members of a planning committee MUST pass before they are allowed to make any decisions on planning.

Planning Committees should stop thinking their job is to obstruct planning. They need to stimulate growth!

Until next week,

Henry