Part of 2. 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:35 pm on 14 June 2016.
Diolch. Well, of course, local development plans don’t build any houses. Given that, in England, local plans produced in consultation with the community have been the cornerstone of planning reforms, how will your Government engage with the Homebuilders Federation regarding the statement in its Welsh election paper, ‘Building Communities, Boosting Investment’, that, because of the many improvements in England, in terms of reduced regulation and greater land availability, the relative attraction of investing in the requisite land and skills in Wales has reduced over recent years? The results can be seen in the most recently published data on planning permissions, which show that, since the start of 2013, the number of private units granted planning permission in Wales has decreased by 4 per cent, whilst increasing by 49 per cent in England.