A new national survey of planning committee members has found that confidence is waning in the roadmap to get Britain building.
The National Planning Barometer, an annual report by communications and advocacy consultancy, SEC Newgate, is the only national survey of councillors on England’s planning committees, designed to gauge the views of those at the delivery end of the system.
With insights from 485 councillors, this year’s report reveals not only a significant lack of faith in delivering housing targets – with over 75% considering them unachievable – but also lifts the lid on wider issues at play and the implications of the reforms yet to be addressed.
The survey highlights a significant disparity between the governments’ goals and housing delivery on a local level, with the widespread view that they fail to address the root causes of challenges at play. A third of respondents referred to the construction sector’s skills shortage as the primary reason behind their lack of confidence in meeting the ambitious 1.5 million homes target, with a fifth pointing to the negative impact of existing developer landbanking.
Though the same barriers persist from 2024, many are deemed to have worsened over the last year, with seven in 10 councillors citing developers claiming lack of viability for affordable housing delivery as a major barrier within their local authority areas. 58% of respondents reported slow build-out by developers as a further delivery barrier (an 18% jump compared to 2024). Compounding these developer-based delivery barriers, community opposition is on the increase, along with a decrease in the lack of suitable sites in local areas.
While 92% of councillors report the housing crisis has persisted or worsened – and 77% consider it severe in their region – it is affordable housing provision specifically that has emerged as collateral damage within the housing reforms.
Councillors in 2025 continue to prioritise the provision of affordable housing for future generations, with almost three-quarters citing it as their top priority, and eight in 10 report social and affordable housing as the most-needed housing tenure. However, just 20% believe the government’s removal of national requirements relating to affordable homeownership will increase flexibility for local authorities, with 60% expecting it to have a negative impact on affordable housing supply. More than 40% also raised concerns that the policy change will benefit developers more than the communities it is designed to serve, with a third concerned it will negatively impact low-income families.
The jury is also still out as to the efficacy of assessing social rent as a separate category, with 52% feeling it will be ineffective in increasing the supply of these compared to 48% who feel it will be effective. Councillors highlight that effective solutions will require genuine partnership between the national government, local authorities, developers, and communities.
