MediaResponding to the fall in building activity Sam Richards, CEO of pro-growth campaign group Britain Remade, said:
“The fastest fall in building activity for over five years isn’t inevitable, it’s the result of a system that makes it far too difficult and far too expensive to get anything built.
“We can’t grow the economy or bring down housing costs if every new home, clean energy project or transport upgrade has to crawl through years of red tape and endless objections.
“The Government’s attempt at planning reform through the Planning and Infrastructure Bill is a welcome attempt to make it quicker, easier and cheaper to build the economy boosting infrastructure Britain desperately needs. But the bill is nowhere near ambitious enough, and when it is passed it will only have a minimal impact in speeding up the planning system.
“The collapse in construction should be a wake-up call for the Prime Minister and his ministers. We need a planning system that actually supports growth, backs builders not blockers, and makes it possible to get spades in the ground quickly.”