Proposals to update national planning rules to increase focus on maintaining the existing “character” of local areas and promote “beauty” in new development could be counterproductive and will require an influx of design talent at local planning authorities, architects have said.

RIBA also warned that changes to the National Planning Policy Framework outlined in the Levelling-Up and Regeneration Bill, such as a relaxation of requirements for local authorities to demonstrate a five-year supply of deliverable land for housing, could slow the delivery of new homes in some areas.

Its concerns come in a 20-page response to a government consultation on the planning-reform elements of the bill.

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