Peter Truscott says announcements lack detail
The chief executive of one of the UK鈥檚 largest housebuilders has taken aim at Labour鈥檚 housebuilding policies, saying they will take years to be effective.
Peter Truscott, chief executive of 拢786m-turnover Crest Nicholson, told the Sunday Telegraph that he does not 鈥渆xpect a single house to be occupied as a result of Labour鈥檚 policies in the next five years鈥�.
Truscott said: 鈥淏y the time the planning system is changed, local plans reflect these changes, land is bought, infrastructure is provided and legal challenges are seen off, years will fly by.
鈥淚t will be many years until it bears fruit. We鈥檙e talking about completely changing the planning system.鈥�
Keir Starmer last month pledged to build 1.5 million homes over the next five years, 鈥渂ulldozing鈥� the planning system and constructing a wave of new settlements across England.
Planning rules would be rewritten to set out new design standards with a focus on providing 鈥済entle urban development鈥�, while Labour would make it easier to build on 鈥渓ow-quality鈥� greenbelt such as shrubland.
But Truscott said: 鈥淭hey鈥檙e not bad policies. [Yet] there鈥檚 no clear guidance on what the policy actually is. Which 鈥榩oorer quality green belt鈥� can we build on?鈥�
>>See also: Key takeaways and talking points from the Labour Party conference
Truscott said speeding up development was 鈥渧irtually impossible鈥� currently due to backlogs in the planning system, adding Starmer鈥檚 announcement did not take into account the lack of resources for local authorities.
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