Home Builders Federation executive chairman Stewart Baseley has warned the government that it risks “a housebuilding ice age” if it does not stand firm on its planning proposals, dismissing much of the opposition to the proposals by the anti-development lobby as “complete and utter nonsense”. <br> <br> Speaking in the first session of the Housing Market Intelligence conference which was dominated by the planning debate, Baseley said the proposal to delay introducing the presumption in favour of sustainable development until local authorities have a suitable housing plan in place would “leave us in a policy vacuum” resulting in “a continued failure to plan for growth or address the housing crisis”. <br> <br> Baseley also said the brownfield first policy was “fatally flawed”, reducing local authority control and removing protections for valued land. <br> <br> In reply, Shaun Spiers, ceo of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), said that all parties to the debate had to “get out of their trenches” to help solve the housing crisis. He challenged industry to adopt five principles that would reduce the risk of opposition to housing, including the brownfield first strategy, improving design and space standards and supporting a democratic planning system. <br> …