Britain Seeks to Ease Municipal Land Use Regulations to Stimulate the Economy

[M II A II R II K]

Can Easing Planning Rules Boost the Economy?


Sep 14, 2012

By Nate Berg



Read More: http://www.theatlanticcities.com/job...-economy/3279/

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The Prime Minister says planning regulations have apparently prevented many people from taking on home improvement projects and room extensions, such as the expansion of kitchens or the building of "conservatories." Officials are hoping to ease the planning regulations that are supposedly holding these projects back by allowing any home extension project up to 8 meters to go ahead without planning approval for a one year period. According to the BBC.

- The idea is that by lifting these requirements, more homeowners will employ the services of local builders and contractors to take on construction projects that had either been pushed off or deemed too complicated to pursue because of the planning requirements. "Cutting back municipal red tape in this way should provide a particular boost to small traders and builders," Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles recently told the House of Parliament.

- So will this move result in a sudden uptick in local building projects and bring new economic activity to British towns? The opposition party thinks not. "What is the real problem we have in the economy today?" asked opposition leader Ed Miliband. "It is a lack of confidence and lack of demand. I don't think it's the rules on conservatory extensions." Others have argued that there are nearly 400,000 approvals in the system for homes that have yet to be built, and that the real problem is that people don't have the economic means to build them, not that they can't get approval. But proponents hope that the prospect of avoiding a bit of government paperwork will clear the way for small and mid-sized projects to take off.

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