Andrew Griffith MP welcomes Government’s focus on city-centre housebuilding

In a speech by the Housing Secretary today, the Government announced that it will prioritise building in on brownfield sites in inner-city areas where demand is highest and infrastructure already exists rather than concreting over the countryside.

The reforms also make it easier for self-builders and local small-scale sustainable homebuilding – such as barn conversions and the repurposing of agricultural buildings.

Commenting on the proposals, Andrew Griffith MP said:

“This is good news for communities in rural West Sussex under threat from unsustainable overdevelopment. I have always been clear in my opposition to rural overdevelopment and, since my very first speech in Parliament, have set out ideas to reform the planning system to avoid concreting over our countryside. I am delighted to see many of those ideas in the Government policies announced today.

As well as moving the bulk of development away from the south east, these plans will also ensure London develops upwards not outwards.

I know too that local people, business owners and farmers often struggle to obtain planning permission to build sensible developments – including loft conversions or even repurposing barns for farmshops. Today’s planning reforms will implement a more common-sense approach for the benefit of all West Sussex residents.”