The Office for Budget Responsibility warns it is too early to tell whether the government’s planning reforms will boost the supply of new homes by as much as promised.
In its latest Economic and Fiscal Outlook, published today, the independent body said it would be keeping a close eye on consultations.
The OBR said: “The Government has proposed significant changes to the National Planning Policy Framework as part of wider reforms to the planning system.
“These changes are yet to be finalised, as responses to a recent public consultation are being processed by the Government.
“As such, there is insufficient certainty to adjust our current forecast for these measures and we will continue to monitor developments, especially around their implementation given past reform attempts, to judge if and when to incorporate them.
“These reforms may enable greater delivery of new housing and infrastructure projects, which would boost the associated investment flows, as well as increasing productivity over the longer term.”
In her Autumn Budget speech today the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, renewed the government’s pledge to remove obstacles in the planning system and committed to hiring hundreds more planning officers to help speed up approvals.
She said: “We are transforming our planning rules to get Britain building again.”
