Planning Under Pressure – Developers, Planners & Legal Experts Call for Reform This week’s event, hosted by Squires Planning, Evoke Transport, and Thrings Solicitors, brought together key voices from across the development and planning landscape to tackle the systemic challenges slowing down housing delivery.

Keynote from Jonny Denton, Darcliffe Homes Jonny opened with a frank assessment of the current climate for developers. Despite positive promises from the Labour government, local authorities (LAs) remain under-resourced, with too few planning officers and processes that are, in his words, “clunky and politically biased.”

He highlighted

  • Post-approval changes that derail progress
  • Housing associations bidding far below expectations, once 55–65%, now closer to 30%, or not bidding at all for small schemes
  • Tenure mix and rent caps as critical factors affecting viability
  • Months wasted due to lack of LA support on housing delivery
  • A call to streamline processes, empower planning officers, and remove political bias from decision-making

Panel Discussion

Mark Campbell (Squires Planning), David Fletcher (Evoke Transport), Kiran Maher (Thrings), Jonny Denton (Darcliffe Homes)

The panel explored the deeper structural issues affecting planning and development:  

  • Kiran Maher praised the impact of greybelt policy, calling it “positive and revolutionary,” but warned of a skills shortage, poaching, and a culture of inherited habits among planning teams.
  • A question from the floor raised concerns about young officers working remotely. The panel agreed that experience gaps aren’t the issue, mentorship and culture are.
  • Mark Campbell and Andrew Metcalfe shared examples of how things can work: four applications processed in 1.5 hours through open conversation - no forms, no fees. But such success stories are rare.

Recurring Themes

  •  A “can’t do” culture in planning departments, with rigid hours and multiple extensions
  • Lack of inspiring leadership and poor retention of talented staff
  • Funding misdirection, with underspend in Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) and little investment in salaries or team culture
  • Misconceptions around planning reform, with politicians offering headlines but no real change
  • Ecology bottlenecks, especially around Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG), and difficulty sourcing ecologists
  • Section 106 delays, often taking 12–18 months to resolve • Remote working flagged by some as a barrier to collaboration and speed

The panel agreed that change must start at the local authority level. That means:

  • Investing in staffing, salaries, and culture
  • Creating a national framework for planning processes
  • Reinstating meaningful pre-application discussions
  • Encouraging smaller social housing providers to participate
  • Giving planning officers more autonomy to make decisions without political interference

This event didn’t just highlight problems, it offered a roadmap for reform. The question now is, who’s listening?

Our next SET breakfast will be in February 2026. Register your details if you would like to attend.