Event Review – In Conversation with Matthew Pennycook MP

Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook MP spoke to a packed room at our ‘Planning for Change’ fringe at Labour Party conference last weekend – hosted in conjunction with the Fabian Society and Hallam Land.

Acknowledging that the industry desired stability, Pennycook started by stating that the government was entering its “second and final” phase of planning reform, which would give land promoters and developers the certainty required to focus on housing delivery. The minister continued that there was still “lots of grit in the system”, but claimed the new Labour government is implementing a “rules-based planning system” to deliver the stability the sector requires – including a ‘Long Term Housing Strategy’ to be announced over the next few months.

Alongside other panel members Ruth McKeown (Hallam Land), Ben Cooper (Fabian Housing Centre) and Ellie Brown (Inside Housing), Pennycook also discussed the recently published New Towns Taskforce report (including the use of Dev Corps and CPOs to deliver these) and a consultation on National Development Management Policies to be conducted “later this year”.

Pennycook revealed that he had classed the country’s Local Planning Authorities into 3 “buckets”: those that were positive towards development, those that were struggling with resource constraints, and those that were “recalcitrant” – promising to use a “targeted application of powers” to obtain the best outcome in each situation. The minister also told the audience they were keeping demand-side policy changes “under review”, but suggested the FCA’s mortgage rule review would recommend ”bolder changes” than the industry was anticipating.

We would like to thank the minister, as well as the other panellists, for their participation in this insightful and informative discussion.