Perspectives on the role of UK planning in land and property markets

There is a popular view that land use planning regulations (‘planning’) is hostile to both development and the development industry. Part of the reason for the prominence of this view is the homogenising of the notion of ‘planning’ and its reduction to development control. This paper argues that panning controls in the UK are far more sophisticated and, drawing upon empirical evidence of key property interests proposes a more complex and nuanced view of planning controls that, in large part, has the support of the developers and others

Change, rigidity & delay in the UK system of land-use development control

The British system of development control is time-consuming and uncertain in outcome. Moreover, it is becoming increasingly overloaded as it has gradually switched away from being centred on a traditional ‘is it an appropriate land-use?’ type approach to one based on multi-faceted inspections of projects and negotiations over the distribution of the potential financial gains arising from them. Recent policy developments have centred on improving the operation of development control. This paper argues that more fundamental issues may be a stake as well. Important market changes have increased workloads. Furthermore, the UK planning system's institutional framework encourages change to move in specific directions, which is not always helpful. If expectations of increased long-term housing supply are to be met more substantial changes to development control may be essential but hard to achieve

Housing supply and planning delay in the South of England

There is growing international interest in the impact of regulatory controls on the supply of housing The UK has a particularly restrictive planning regime and a detailed and uncertain process of development control linked to it. This paper presents the findings of empirical research on the time taken to gain planning permission for selected recent major housing projects from a sample of local authorities in southern England. The scale of delay found was far greater than is indicated by average official data measuring the extent to which local authorities meet planning delay targets. If these results are representative of the country as a whole, they indicate that planning delay could be a major cause of the slow responsiveness of British housing supply

'A good geography is whatever it needs to be': the Atlantic Gateway and evolving spatial imaginaries in North West England

The emergence of new, non-statutory or informal spaces can be found at multiple levels across Europe, in a variety of circumstances, and with diverse aims and rationales. This book moves beyond theory to examine the practice of soft spaces

Gesetzlich garantierte "Sabbaticals" - ein Modell für Deutschland? Argumente, Befunde und Erfahrungen aus anderen europäischen Ländern

Sabbaticals stellen ein wichtiges Element der lebensverlaufsorientierten Arbeitsmarktund Sozialpolitik dar. Sie ermöglichen individuell gesteuerte Auszeiten für berufliche und außerberufliche Interessen der Beschäftigten, wie Weiterbildung, berufliche Umorientierung, Kinderbetreuung, Pflege, Erholung oder Freizeit. Derzeit können Sabbaticals in Deutschland nur im Rahmen individueller Anspar- und Finanzierungsmodelle realisiert werden, die mit dem Arbeitgeber zu vereinbaren und zu regeln sind. Die Verbreitung und Nutzung hängt damit vom betrieblichen Angebot und den verfügbaren Ressourcen der Beschäftigten ab und fällt insgesamt eher gering und selektiv aus. Vor diesem Hintergrund untersucht die vorliegende Studie, in welchem Maße und unter welchen Bedingungen ein finanziell und sozial abgesicherter Rechtsanspruch hier zu Verbesserungen beitragen kann. Dazu werden auf der einen Seite Probleme und Handlungsfelder in der bestehenden Regelungspraxis in Deutschland identifiziert, auf der anderen Seite Erfahrungen anderer europäischer Länder skizziert, in denen Sabbaticals im Rahmen eines gesetzlichen Anspruchs geregelt wurden. Auf dieser Grundlage werden abschließend die Chancen und Risiken diskutiert, die mit der möglichen Einführung eines Rechtsanspruchs in Deutschland zu erwarten sind und Anforderungen an dessen institutionelle Ausgestaltung und Flankierung formuliert.Sabbaticals constitute an important part of life-course-oriented labour market and social policies. They pave the way to individually managed career-breaks making space for the employees’ professional or extra-professional projects and interests such as further training, professional reorientation, childcare, care, recreation or leisure-time. In Germany sabbaticals are currently arranged directly between employee and employer and are financed via individual savings schemes. The dissemination and use of sabbaticals is dependent on the employees’ (financial) resources and the companies' offers and is therefore comparatively low and socially selective. This paper’s aim is to determine to what extent and under what conditions a legal claim to a socially and financially secured sabbatical would ameliorate its dissemination and use. For this purpose the paper examines, on the one hand, problems and areas of activity in the existing German regulations. On the other hand, experiences of European countries with legally binding sabbatical regulations will be outlined. On this basis the chances and risks of a potential implementation of a legal claim to a sabbatical in Germany will be discussed. Furthermore, requirements regarding its institutional organization and flanking will be formulated