Beauty’s in the eye of beholder, MP says of planning reforms
The government’s proposed planning reforms may be difficult to implement proposed if “beauty” clauses are left in, according to the head of a parliamentary house builders group.
Conservative MP – and chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for SME House builders – Andrew Lewer told City A.M. that it would be “difficult to square the circle” between building homes beautifully and building homes quickly as the new planning system seeks to do.
Housing secretary Robert Jenrick unveiled the government’s proposal to radically overhaul the UK planning system last week, which included placing areas into three different zones.
Properties that meet certain criteria can be built without planning approval in designated “growth” areas, while developments in areas designated as a “renewal” land will have “permission in principle”.
Anywhere deemed to be “protected” land, such as the green belt, will not be able to be built on.
A part of the plan also includes a clause that new developments will have to conform to certain design and aesthetic codes, with an additional “fast-track system for beautiful buildings”.
Lewer said that there may be a contradiction in the aims of building homes quickly and building homes that conform to a certain aesthetic.
“There’s a lot of references to beauty in here, while also talking about leaving people alone and letting them get on with it,” he said.
“How do you square that circle of trying to be prescriptive about beauty, but telling people there will be zones where you can just go for it?”
Lewer added that it would also be very difficult to judge what constitutes beautiful architecture.
“It’s going to be an interesting challenge to see how you legislate for beauty given beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” he said.
“If you wander down a street where there are a couple of art deco houses in the 1920s style, people will now go ‘what an amazing house, how wonderful’. But if you had a local design book where houses can only be built a certain way there wouldn’t be any art deco houses.”
The reforms will now go into a consultation stage, with expected entries from stakeholders across the country.