One of the capital’s biggest players in property development has said Brexit is not the only factor behind a plunge in major planning applications lodged with Westminster council.

Stuart Lipton – whose Lipton Rogers firm is responsible for a host of major developments, from Renzo Piano’s Central St Giles scheme in the West End to PLP Architecture’s under-construction 22 Bishopsgate – said over-prescriptive planning rules and stamp duty changes also shared the blame.

Last week, BD reported Westminster’s head of planning told city councillors the authority had seen a 42% drop in major planning applications compared with the previous year.

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