More than 100 UK property businesses are calling on the government for urgent reform to England’s existing planning processes, claiming they cannot meet the UK’s climate commitments or build sustainable homes at speed and scale.
Many of the UK’s leading businesses in the sector — including Allies & Morrison, JLL and Aecom — have joined the UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) in a bid to tackle the UK’s deepening housing and climate crises.
The joint letter calls for the government to amend the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, directly aligning the property planning system with the UK’s climate commitments and adaptation goals under the Climate Change Act, and nature restoration targets under the Environment Act.
It also states the current planning system is “not fit for purpose” as it doesn’t provide a consistent approach to tackling climate change and environmental considerations, creating delays, costs, and legal challenges.
“Current legal duties and planning policies have proven insufficient for delivering action, as shown by the lack of consistent carbon auditing for local plans and headline decisions by the planning inspectorate,” the letter states.
“Meanwhile many local communities continue to see unsustainable, unpopular development built in unsuitable locations, with thousands of homes built on floodplains without sufficient mitigation.”
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UKGBC head of policy and public affairs Louise Hutchins said: “England’s inconsistent planning system is not delivering the change we need to tackle the climate and nature breakdown. Our business and local authority members are faced with endless barriers, delays and legal challenges to the kind of low carbon nature-friendly development we all want to see.
“By introducing a clear legal imperative for planning decisions at all levels to align with our Climate Change and Environment Acts, we can unlock huge investment and momentum towards the beautiful neighbourhoods and low carbon infrastructure the country urgently needs.”
Elsewhere, Mace Construct has called on the government to retrofit property such as non-domestic buildings before considering demolition.
CEO Gareth Lewis said many buildings may not require demolition and can be renewed through retrofit into new assets, “savings tonnes of embodied carbon in the process”.
“We are therefore urging the government to mandate consideration of retrofit at the planning stage to avoid unnecessary property demolition,” he added.
