Planning system gets more difficult, survey finds.

Government reforms of the planning system have not improved the planning process for housebuilders and developers.

That’s according to a survey published by Building magazine.

The survey of more than 230 housebuilders, found that 49% think achieving planning permission has become more difficult in the last two years, compared with just 10% that believe it has got easier, and over a third that said it was unchanged.

In addition, just a fraction of the housebuilders surveyed – 6% – said local authorities have become more open to development since the publication of the government’s National Planning Policy Framework, which placed a “presumption in favour of sustainable development” at the heart of the planning system.

More than twice that number, 15%, say councils are now less open to development, with a majority of 56% saying it has made no difference.

The findings come despite the fact chancellor George Osborne said in 2011 that the government’s planning reforms were “key to our economic recovery”.