Limits to Growth: The Challenge of Housing Delivery in England's ‘Under-bounded’ Districts

Abstract

In the UK, the outward growth of settlements beyond their existing territorial boundaries has until recently been managed primarily through local negotiation between neighbouring authorities or by the coordination and impetus provided by strategic planning. The current overhaul of the planning system in England, with the removal of regional planning, has unlocked a debate over how ‘larger than local’ planning is undertaken and how cross-boundary cooperation is promoted. This paper reports, firstly, on planning professionals' recent experience of cooperating on major housing developments in three under-bounded authorities. Secondly, it reflects on the loss of the regional tier, and thirdly, it examines expectations of a more locally oriented planning system and its likely capacity to deliver on major cross-boundary projects.

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful for the support of the RICS Education Trust that enabled this research to be undertaken and to the two anonymous referees for detailed comments on an earlier draft. The authors are also grateful to Manuela Madeddu for her contribution to this study.