Planning Reforms

Barratt Developments PLC
20 November 2006


20th November 2006

                    David Pretty calls for Planning Reforms

Britain's planning system is showing some early signs of improvement but still
needs more resources and urgent reform, according to David Pretty, outgoing
chief executive of Barratt, Britain's leading housebuilder.

However, he urged the Government to resist the temptation to replace or
revolutionise the existing planning system, but instead to concentrate on
refining and improving it. At the same time, he called on the Government to
reconsider its position on the proposed Planning Gain Supplement (PGS), which he
believes will have the opposite effect to that intended.

Mr Pretty, who retires from Barratt Group at the end of 2006, said: 'We are
building far fewer homes than 25 years ago, and certainly nowhere near enough to
meet government targets and improve affordability for first-time buyers.

'Back then, a non-contentious application would take around eight to 12 weeks to
get through the planning system whereas today a comparable application can take
up to 18 months! The system has deteriorated sharply in the past ten years,
although we are now starting to see some minor improvements. Like others in the
industry, I am encouraged by the Government's commitment to improve matters -
but more needs to be done, and it needs to be done quickly if a whole generation
of first-time buyers is not to be sacrificed.'

He added: 'Local authorities and their planners have been buffeted by too many
changes in recent years and I believe the priority now is to streamline and
properly resource the existing system to make it work better - and to back it
with measures which together could have a significant effect.'

Mr Pretty wants to see the Government implement a number of key measures:

   •Selling Government land for new homes at significantly below market value.

   •Providing more community, social and transport infrastructure.

   •Increasing the national brownfield development target to at least 65 per
    cent.

   •Introducing a short-term planning 'amnesty' on minor domestic applications.

   •Rebalance and 'front-end' the democratic planning process so that it is
    not mired in consultation, regulation and administration.

Expanding on his proposals in order, he said: 'When disposing of its redundant
land stock, the Government, as the nation's largest landowner and largest
supplier of land to housebuilders, should consider accepting prices
significantly below market value - in return for lower selling prices to
first-time buyers and key workers, and higher design and environmental
standards. Action like this could have a significant effect in a relatively
short time and could give a big boost to beleaguered first-time buyers.'

Mr Pretty said that many objections to urgently-needed housing schemes centred
on the extra burden they might place on local education, health and transport
facilities. 'These are not matters which are in the gift of housebuilders. It is
generally agreed that Britain has not, over many decades, kept up with other
European countries in the provision of general infrastructure - and that needs
to be put right for the future. And while I understand the thinking behind the
Government's proposed Planning Gain Supplement (PGS), I don't believe a land tax
such as this is the right way to provide the infrastructure we need, as it will
tend to limit rather than encourage housing supply. I would urge them to look at
other solutions, one of which might be to improve and enhance the existing
Section 106 local planning mechanism which requires housebuilders to make a
proportionate contribution to local needs. But it is not going to be the whole
answer and any Government will need to do more' he said.

Increasing the Government's brownfield development target to at least 65 per
cent would help to counter the myths about concreting over green fields, he said
- and should be backed by a priority fast-track process for brownfield planning
applications, particularly for sites including first-time buyer and social
housing. 'Giving brownfield applications priority would also encourage more
regeneration' he said.

On his suggested planning 'amnesty', Mr Pretty said: 'We are where we are with
the current overworked planning system. Improvements take time, so we need
measures to break the logjam. It may seem radical, but one of these could be a
short-term planning amnesty on minor domestic planning applications, rather
along the lines of a recent suggestion from John Gummer, the former Cabinet
Minister. Minor applications - for alterations, extensions, changes of use etc -
are thought to account for around half of all applications currently choking the
planning and appeals system. We should question whether this is a sensible use
of planners' time when there are so many pressing priorities. However, these
minor applications could be rapidly approved, subject to certain basic
safeguards, and the planners could then concentrate on considering priority
housing schemes. This could boost housing output at a stroke.'

Looking to the future, Mr Pretty suggests rebalancing the democratic planning
process to relieve the welter of consultation, regulation and administration
that has become so enmeshed in the system over the past 20 years. He said 'We
need to concentrate the democratic debate and public consultation at the
front-end of the process when the key principles of development are being
decided. However, once they are decided, widespread consultation should cease
and we should then allow professional planning officers to get on and progress
approvals swiftly so long as they are within their agreed Local Plans and
adopted policies.'

Mr Pretty was speaking exactly a year after presenting the Government with an
eighteen-point programme of suggested reforms. Some have already been taken up,
including new and more direct funding initiatives to help first-time buyers and
key workers. Another key proposal - to help solve the rural housing crisis by
providing a small number of new homes in every country town and village - has
since been espoused up by the Government's Commission for Rural Communities.

END

20th November 2006

Business/Financial Public Relations
Weber Shandwick Square Mile Tel: [phone]
Terry Garrett/Chris Lynch

Notes for Editors:

David Pretty's full 18 point plan to increase housing provision is available
from www.barratt-investor-relations.co.uk along with expanded information on
those points covering key worker and rural housing (click on 'Press Releases'
and then 'Group Releases' and they are listed as 'Call for planning reform' and
'Proposal to ease rural housing crisis').

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION: DAVID PRETTY, OUTGOING GROUP CHIEF EXECUTIVE

David A Pretty stepped down as Group Chief Executive of Barratt Developments PLC
on 2 October 2006 and remains a Main Board director pending retirement at the
end of 2006. He is one of the housebuilding industry's best-known figures,
having been active at senior management level for well over 25 years. Although
recognised primarily for his extensive experience and leading role in the fields
of urban regeneration, land buying and marketing, he is also considered a
pioneer of social housing partnership development in the inner-cities. He
undertook one of the first private-public partnerships in London 25 years ago
and, as CEO of Barratt, headed the nation's largest provider of social housing.

He was raised on a council estate in Shepherds Bush, west London, and achieved
an honours degree in economics at the University of Hull. In 1966, he joined
Procter & Gamble, the consumer goods multinational, as a graduate trainee and
moved into the housing industry in 1968, joining Barratt as a sales and land
director in 1976. In 1980, he was appointed managing director of Barratt Central
London, with responsibility for opening up Barratt operations across the capital
- which included many major inner city projects, and also selling a large
Barratt family home in Dulwich to the then Prime Minister Margaret (now
Baroness) Thatcher. He subsequently became Barratt Group Marketing Director and
then Chairman of Barratt's Southern Region, transforming it into the Group's
largest region. He was appointed Group Managing Director in 1998 and Group CEO
in October 2002. He remains the longest-serving member of the Barratt Main
Board. David Pretty is married with two daughters and five granddaughters, and
lives in London with his wife.

END

Images of David Pretty are downloadable free from
www.barratt-investor-relations.co.uk




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