Does one size fit all? Place-neutral national planning policy in England and its impact on housing land supplies and local development plans in North East England

Abstract

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Re-contextualising purpose-built student accommodation in secondary cities: The role of planning policy, consultation and economic need during austerity

“…This relative isolation means that the city struggles for inward investment (Tomaney and Ward, 2017). McGuinness et al (2018: 330) note the ‘lack of place-based (spatial) sensitivity in the English planning system’ and a selective spatial imaginary that desires ‘to accelerate land supply in dynamic housing markets in southern England, where pressure on land, problems of housing affordability and opposition to development are intense’. They state that the implications for places with weaker property and land markets are not considered in the formulation of national policy.…”

“…As Shepherd (2021: 10) reveals, this has resulted in permission for new housing, including PBSA, being granted in contravention of local plans and the desires of communities. This highlights the difficult local implications stemming from the centralised nature of the English planning system which does not allow for nuances stemming from differential regional markets or demand levels, where different political cultures, development histories and capacities of action may exist (McGuinness et al, 2018). This inevitably leads to uneven development.…”

Towards a virtual statecraft: Housing targets and the governance of urban housing markets

“…This approach is indicative of the lack of strategic spatial coordination in the planning system more broadly and the logical implications of a market-led, delivery-focused approach in reinforcing uneven development, rather than seeking to rebalance spatial economies (McGuinness, Greenhalgh, & Grainger, 2018). It also reflects and reproduces core tensions at the heart of government and its statecraft.…”

Viability Planning, Value Capture and the Geographies of Market-Led Planning Reform in England

“…Property and investment markets are highly diverse and segmented and since the 1980s there has been a marked concentration in areas of high market potential and return, at the expense of more peripheral places (Hildreth & Bailey, 2014). For McGuinness et al (2018) the reliance on market processes derives from both a 'lack of place-based (spatial) sensitivity in the English planning system' and a selective spatial imaginary that desires 'to accelerate land supply in dynamic housing markets in southern England, where pressure on land, problems of housing affordability and opposition to development are intense' (p.330). The implications, they argue, for places where property and land markets are weaker, have not been considered in the formulation of policy, beyond the vague justifications set out above that imagine that place economies will rebalance over time.…”

“…Supranational agencies, such as the World Bank, are pushing for local and national governments to entrepreneurialise their planning systems and limit direct forms of spatial intervention (Amirtahmasebi et al, 2019), even in countries such as the Netherlands where redistributive planning policies have traditionally been effective ( Van der Krabben & Jacobs, 2013). English reforms lack consideration for local and regional place-based nuances (McGuinness et al, 2018), reflecting broader international trends in which 'place-neutral' approaches are gaining traction over 'area-focused' initiatives (Barca, 2009).…”