Typical. You wait years for a report setting out government policy on vital areas like housing and transport and then three come at once …

The Barker Review

What is it?

A report recommending shake-up of the planning system to boost the UK economy

Who’s behind it?

Gordon Brown commissioned Bank of England monetary policy committee member Kate Barker to write the report

What does it recommend?

• Councils should grant permission for schemes unless there is a good reason not to
• Councils should review green belts in order to allow less car-dependent development on the urban fringe
• Setting up an independent commission to deal with big infrastructure projects
• Halving the number of planning applications called in by the secretary of state
• Scrapping the £50,000 cap on planning fees
• Fast-tracking large applications by asking developers to pay for additional consultants to work on their projects
• All planning appeals should be processed in six months
• Reducing number of minor applications, such as loft conversions and house extensions, that need permission
• Removing the “need test” for new retail developments
• Slashing the National Planning Guidance from 800 to 200 pages
• Allowing developers to pay compensation to local people affected by schemes
• Cutting the time to process local plans from 36-42 months to 18-24 months
• Scrapping caps on the number of car parking spaces allowed in commercial developments
• Streamlining the process of drawing up local development frameworks
• Making it easier to develop tall buildings

What do people think?

The report is more radical than Barker hinted at in her interim report this summer, which reflects the influence of its sponsors in the Treasury. Planners are disappointed at the absence of a national plan setting out where major infrastructure projects should be located, but housebuilders have welcomed Barker’s proposals to review the amount of land that is safeguarded against development.

The revised PPS3

What is it?

A planning policy statement. This is a set of rules laid down by Whitehall to provide guidance to councils that decide whether or not to approve housing developments.

Who’s behind it?

Yvette Cooper, minister of state for housing and planning

What does it do?

• Lets councils specify the mix of private housing on large sites, as set out in their development plans
• Relaxes rules for housing to be built at a minimum density of 30 dwellings a hectare by giving councils the power to set their own benchmarks
• Removes cap on the number of car parking spaces in developments
• Excludes low-cost for-sale housing from affordable housing contributions
• Allows councils to cut size of sites that affordable housing must be delivered on
• Scraps greenfield land direction, under which government vets large housing schemes with density of under 30 dwellings a hectare
• Maintains national target of 60% of housing being built on brownfield land
• Requires local authorities to identify up to 15 years of land for housing, including five years of available sites
• Encourages good quality housing design
• Makes developers plan for play space for children
• Encourages new settlements and greenfield urban extensions as well as housing on brownfield sites

What do people think?

The new rules have received a warm welcome from the housebuilding industry – with one caveat. On the positive side, the Home Builders Federation said it was evidence of the government’s commitment to increasing housing supply. The relaxed line on minimum densities and car parking gets a big tick, as do moves to free up land supply and encourage standalone settlements.

But this reaction is tempered by dismay that the government has allowed councils to dictate the housing mix of for-sale schemes.

Paul Garber, a planning director at George Wimpey, believes the new rules on housing mix are too open to interpretation. Roger Humber, a housing consultant, is damning. “This is the worst sort of prescription,” he says. “In five years’ time, I’d expect the housebuilding industry to be half its current size. People aren’t going to risk their private capital on this basis.” It seems like the perfect reason for David Wilson to get out of the market.”

He is referring to Wilson Bowden’s chairman, founder and part-owner, who has put his firm up for sale.

The Eddington Transport Study

What is it?

Recommendations for government transport priorities over the next 30 years.

Who’s behind it?

Australian former British Airways chief executive Sir Rod Eddington.

What does it recommend?

• Introducing road pricing for crowded urban areas
• Investment should focus on improving existing transport rather than projects with speculative benefits
• Introducing an independent planning commission to reform the planning process for major projects
• Encouraging additional runways to be introduced at airports with a strong economic and environmental case
• Giving the Department for Transport a three-part decision-making cycle of 5-10, 10-20 and 20-30 years to reflect short, medium and long-term ambitions

What do people think?

A mixed reaction. There was much disappointment that Eddington did not endorse large-scale rail projects like Crossrail or a high-speed link that travels from London to Tyneside in 90 minutes. Malcolm Taylor, rail director at consultant Faber Maunsell, said: “I think we should be planning for this link now because it’s going to take 20 years to build. I think he side-stepped this issue.”

He is also disappointed that the rest of the report has been overshadowed by its headline-grabbing proposals on road pricing. But he praises the proposal for the independent planning commission. “It’ll mean that major projects will not get bogged down by nimby issues,” he said.

The British Property Federation backs the planning proposals, but wants the government to allow the commission to fast-track large projects beyond the realm of transport, such as urban regeneration schemes.

David Begg, a former government adviser, backs the road pricing plans, saying the only other solution to reduce congestion is to build five times the amount of roads over the next 20 years than already planned.