"The government is wrong to blame the housing crisis on the planning system and environmental protections. The true ‘blockers’ are the big housebuilders that have a stranglehold on our housing supply"
- Paul Miner - CPRE
Government proposals to restrict the role of local planning committees risk weakening democratic oversight without tackling the root causes of the UK’s housing crisis, according to a new briefing from CPRE, the countryside charity.
The Planning and Infrastructure Bill includes plans to reduce the already limited number of applications that are considered by local planning committees. CPRE warns this approach will do little to address the slow pace of housing delivery and may make it easier for developers to avoid commitments to affordable housing and design standards.
Although ministers have suggested that planning committees delay new developments, these bodies currently handle only 4% of all planning applications. Most are determined by planning officers under delegated powers.
CPRE argues that the real challenge lies elsewhere. Large developers, the briefing notes, often delay building on land where permission has already been granted, releasing new homes slowly in order to keep prices high. The charity points to government figures showing that over a million homes in England have received planning permission but have yet to be built.
Committees typically only review applications with potentially significant impacts, such as those that diverge from local development plans or are submitted by local authorities themselves. However, CPRE highlights that even small developments, especially in rural areas, can affect transport links and the historic environment, meaning community oversight remains crucial.
If the proposed legislation is passed, many of these decisions would be made by a single unelected planning officer, with no requirement for public input or political accountability.
Concerns are also growing that limiting the role of committees could weaken enforcement around planning obligations, including commitments to affordable housing, infrastructure delivery, and design quality.
CPRE’s briefing highlights examples where planning committees contribute to better outcomes, supporting housing targets while reflecting local concerns. The charity also calls on the government to learn from councils that combine efficient decision-making with democratic safeguards.
In Shropshire, for example, planning officers handled 97% of applications in 2024, but the council retained an effective system to refer certain cases to committee. That year, 82% of applications were decided within agreed timescales, and 87% were approved.
The charity is calling for a number of changes to the government’s approach, including:
Maintaining committee oversight for locally important developments
Requiring developers to build on land where planning permission has already been granted
Prioritising brownfield land with enforceable targets for affordable and social housing
“Local planning committees play a vital role in our democracy. They give ordinary people a say in major changes to their local area, hold elected representatives to account and push for high-quality housing built in the right locations," said CPRE’s head of policy and planning, Paul Miner.
He added, “If the government goes ahead with its plans to curtail the role of these committees, it will undermine democratic oversight while encouraging developers to continue with business as usual – in other words, maximising profit for themselves and misery for everyone else. Committees can work more effectively, but the best councils expect the committee chair and chief planning officer to work together.
“The government is wrong to blame the housing crisis on the planning system and environmental protections. The true ‘blockers’ are the big housebuilders that have a stranglehold on our housing supply.
Miner concluded, “The solution to the housing crisis lies as much in transforming the market as it does in planning reform. Without it, we will see yet more unaffordable, car-dependent developments built across our countryside.”
