Property groups call for climate change law in planning process

More than 100 companies in the UK property industry, including Landsec, Grosvenor Property and Rockwool, have urged Rishi Sunak to make planning decisions take account of climate change by law.

The group wrote to the prime minister and three secretaries of state, arguing that the existing planning system in England undermines the property sector’s ability to deliver high-quality sustainable homes at speed and scale. 

The planning system is frequently criticised by property groups for slow and inconsistent decision-making, which they argue has hampered much-needed housebuilding and development.

The executives said the “levelling up and regeneration bill”, currently moving through parliament, offers an opportunity to address the lack of focus on climate change in planning decisions.

In its current form the bill, which underpins economic rebalancing goals set out by the government last year, includes some proposed planning reforms but does not link the system with the UK’s environmental ambitions. 

The companies said the bill should be amended to include a new, clear legal duty for planning decisions to explicitly align with the UK’s carbon budget — the cumulative amount of carbon Britain can emit before risking higher temperature rises — and adaptation goals to prepare the country for the effects of global warming.

They also call for the system to incorporate nature restoration targets that have been set out under the Environment Act.

“Without a new climate clause and clear legal alignment, planning policy could . . . risk going backwards, undermining vital investment,” said the letter, sent on Thursday afternoon.

Louise Hutchins, head of policy at the UK Green Building Council, an industry group focusing on sustainable construction, which organised the letter, said England has a “planning system that fails to integrate the government’s own climate commitments”. 

She cited planning restrictions on technologies that could help reduce carbon emissions, such as banning properties from using solar panels because of visual concerns, or heat pumps over noise.

“This [letter] is a wake-up call to the government and to politicians to recognise the breadth and depth of support for greening the planning system from across the built environment and the industry,” she added.

The signatories, including Allies & Morrison, JLL and Aecom, said local communities continue to see “unsustainable, unpopular development built in unsuitable locations, with thousands of homes built on floodplains without sufficient mitigation”.

There have been other calls to prioritise environmental considerations in planning. Mace, the construction company responsible for the Shard and London Eye, in a separate report on Thursday said ministers should use planning rules to discourage developers from unnecessarily knocking down buildings.

“Many buildings may not require demolition and can be transformed and renewed through retrofit into fantastic new assets, saving tonnes of embodied carbon in the process,” said Gareth Lewis, chief executive of Mace Construction.

But tighter energy efficiency rules in commercial properties, which came into force in April, have added to the difficulties facing property investors.

The often-costly upgrades required to bring buildings up to standard have added to fears that some shops and offices could become “stranded assets”.