Event

The MIMBY majority: How do we engage the public to unlock housebuilding?

This event hosted by UK think tank Demos launches their new report ‘The MIMBY Majority’.

The UK has a housing crisis. This shackles growth, stifles productivity, and deepens inequalities. Tackling this in order to kickstart growth is one of the government’s flagship policies.

In its effort to speed up the planning process, the government is taking on the ‘NIMBYs’, siding with the ‘builders, not blockers’, in Keir Starmer’s words.

But Demos’s new report The MIMBY Majority, supported by the Royal Town and Planning Institute (RTPI), shows that the majority of people – 67% – are in fact ‘MIMBYs’. They are open to new developments under certain conditions – they think ‘Maybe in My Backyard’ instead of ‘Not in My Backyard’. But they are going unheard in our planning system.

To get Britain building, communities need to be on board by involving them early in the planning process and making plans that better meet their needs. There needs to be more representative engagement beyond the NIMBYs to include the MIMBYs and YIMBYs.

Spatial Development Strategies (SDSs), the new layer of strategic planning brought in by the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, offer an opportunity to do things differently. Early and representative public participation will help to anticipate and address issues upstream and give a voice to the unheard majority, ensuring plans meet residents’ needs, and helping to build trust between them and Strategic Authorities.

Join our expert panel as we launch this exciting new report. The panel will explore the proposals for how the public can be meaningfully but proportionately involved in the development of Spatial Development Strategies. We will discuss the steps that government, strategic authorities, the planning sector, and others can take to give a voice to the unheard majority, streamline planning processes, build more homes, and achieve economic growth.

Speakers

Chris Curtis MP – Co-Chair of the Labour Growth Group; Member of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee

Paul Morrison – Chief Executive of the Planning Inspectorate

Steve Skelton – Interim Director of Policy and Strategy at Liverpool City Region Combined Authority

Daniel Slade – Head of Practice and Research at Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI)

Hana Kapetanovic – Lead Researcher at Demos and co-author of the report

Miriam Levin – Director of Participatory Programmes at Demos and co-author of the report (Chair)