Friday 10 July 2015

LCCI responds to shake up of the planning system

Commenting ahead of this morning's planned announcement by Business Secretary Sajid Javid MP on changes to the planning system, Colin Stanbridge, Chief Executive of London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) said: "We welcome Government moving to reform the planning system in order to increase the number of houses being built.

"LCCI has long called for suitable brownfield sites to be offered to bodies who are ready and willing to develop them, and it is encouraging that the Government is extending this to brownfield sites across the country.

"Further devolution of planning powers to the Mayor of London will allow the capital to speed up building more houses. It is crucial that existing developed land in London is used as efficiently as possible, and building more densely in areas with good transport links will unlock thousands of new homes for workers across the capital, which can be extended through bringing forward projects such as Crossrail 2."

ENDS

Media contact
Sophie Mew, Policy and Public Affairs Officer
T: +44 (0)20 7203 1897
E: smew@londonchamber.co.uk

NOTES TO EDITOR:

1. London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) is the capital's largest and most representative business organisation, with members ranging in size from multi-national companies to SMEs and sole traders.
2. LCCI's May 2014 report, Getting our housing in order, which looks at liberating more land for development and supporting smaller developers to build, can be found here.
3. LCCI's May 2015 report, Unlocking London's housing potential, which looks at creating a London-wide register of publicly owned brownfield land, can be found here.
4. Colin Stanbridge is available for further comment and interview.