Michael Clifford: More houses and hard hats, less legal gowns please 

Why has a scheme designed to get houses built during a housing crisis resulted in far more people poring over legal documents than plans? Michael Clifford reports

In 2019, 508 homes were affected by judicial reviews taken against an SHD. Last year this figure jumped to 5,802.

Instead of building houses, everybody is off down to the courts to stop the building of houses. So goes one interpretation of headlines this week about the level of court action to prevent construction under the Strategic Housing Development (SHD) scheme.

A report by construction consultant Mitchell McDermott pointed out that there has been a 1,000% jump in the number of judicial reviews taken to stop SHDs. Judicial reviews are, for the most part, taken by residents objecting to planning permission for new developments. In 2019, 508 homes were affected by judicial reviews taken against an SHD. Last year this figure jumped to 5,802. In theory, the propensity to swap hard hats for court gowns has seen over 5,000 people who could have been housed last year going without a home.