Paul Smith

I went to Manchester Central Library at lunch today for their exhibition of work by past City Architects.

Everything from a glasshouse in Alexandra Park and a wash house in Levenshulme to the Crown Court, Manchester Airport and the iconic Toast Rack. There were even sketches of the Chinatown arch.

From this, which is brilliant.

The developer of Covent Garden was apparently subject to enforcement action for starting work without permission.

How long does it actually take to get planning permission for new homes? Data from PropTech company Searchland highlights how the time it takes to get permission for new homes has changed over the last decade.

Want to know how long planning applications for new homes take to be decided?

I’ve used some new data from PropTech company Searchland to work it out - and how much longer it takes now compared to a decade ago.

open.substack.com/pub/longwall...

Buckaroo! The burdens that have become a big problem for house building Each new policy requirement for building new homes might be perfectly reasonable in its own right, but in combination they are making it harder to build the number of homes we so desperately need.

And here’s part of the reason for those two trends.

open.substack.com/pub/longwall...

A really good piece on development viability from @pbarnes.bsky.social, entirely unsurprisingly.

Two graphs to keep in mind when you read it: developer margins are down; land values have flatlined and dissociated from house prices.

philipbarnesblog.wordpress.com/2026/02/17/v...

New literature review post!

I discuss research showing what happens to housing prices, rents, and displacement when demand increases faster than supply, and what happens when supply is allowed to keep up.

1/

The whole suite of surveys and BNG reporting.

No idea.

We’re about to submit an application for 50 new homes.

24% of the cost of that application is ecology reporting.

Our local library has got the *best* new exhibition.

As if to prove the point, the second map she’s been given to identify the 5 counties she wanted to learn *has different boundaries.*

“Why can’t people just enjoy the character and charm of the Cotswolds without trying to turn their gardens into some kind of tacky Benidorm resort?”

A wonderful report on David Cameron’s 6-year long attempt to secure permission for a pool in his back garden.

www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/2583255...

Pretty sure that @jonnelledge.bsky.social has set my daughter’s homework this weekend. Although it doesn’t come with a long explanation about why, actually, some of these aren’t really counties so maybe he hasn’t.

This is a great read on what it’s actually like to try to secure planning permission.

open.substack.com/pub/samdumit...

Kind of him to send me a new one though.

Although @samuelstafford.bsky.social doesn’t think planning is black and white, he apparently has different ideas when it comes to mugs.

I remember when Barnsley was going to become a Tuscan hill village.

The planning system is clunky and slow. Even without touching policy, there are plenty of ways we can remove grit from the system and make the machine hum.

Here are some ideas for doing that. And the list is so long there’ll almost certainly be an idea you hate.

open.substack.com/pub/longwall...

Rishi Sunak on planning reform in The Times.

www.thetimes.com/business/com...

🤔

The planning system is clunky and slow. Even without touching policy, there are plenty of ways we can remove grit from the system and make the machine hum.

Here are some ideas for doing that. And the list is so long there’ll almost certainly be an idea you hate.

open.substack.com/pub/longwall...

It is almost 6 years since Planning for the Future promised us "a radical, digital-first approach to modernise the planning process."

Yet the *terrible* standard of our planning data means that is still a distant dream.

Here's why and what we can do.

www.housingtoday.co.uk/comment/wher...

🎂We're celebrating a first birthday today! 🎂

This time last year, we submitted a request for pre-application advice for a new housing development. We paid a fee and everything.

12 months later, we still haven't had a response, so it's officially turned 1!

Everyone watching the voting at the round table thinking how tense it is, and developers everywhere wondering what the fuss is about because it’s just like planning committee.

There’s a lot going on here.

(From @newscientist.com)

What a headline this is.

Our housing crisis is now so bad, increasing numbers of people have to win TV game shows to buy a home.

#Traitors