Melanie Leech, chief executive of the British Property Federation, welcomed Budget proposals to explore the options for piloting a Development Rights Auction Model (DRAM) on a major infrastructure project in London. She added: "However, the creation of new infrastructure funding models must be done as part of the root and branch review of CIL, and should be tested with the wider developer community to ensure that efforts to bring about more infrastructure do not become barriers to the very development they are seeking to underpin."

Roy Pinnock, planning partner at law firm Dentons, said: "The announcement of land auction trials through the Development Rights Auction Model reflects the wider thinking in Government about 'right pricing' land. It will be interesting to see whether any auctions that do take place produce policy-compliant schemes, with incentives to deliver them early. Where they do, there will be real interest in pursuing a similar approach through neighbourhood and local plans."

Henry Moss, real estate partner at law firm Ashurst, said: "The Government's support for a pilot Development Rights Auction Model (DRAM) in London is a welcome first step towards funding the infrastructure schemes such as Crossrail 2 that London desperately needs.

"DRAMs provide a way for TfL to benefit from a share of the dramatic increases in land value that they create by bringing new infrastructure to an area, as other countries such as Hong Kong have done very successfully. However DRAMs are only the first step – in order to crack the problem the Government will need to be much bolder."

Duncan Field, head of planning, UK, at law firm, Norton Rose Fulbright, said: "Disappointingly, both the MOU [between the government and London mayor] and the Budget are silent on Crossrail line 2 - which is disappointing - but one eye-catching and perhaps related initiative is the commitment to pilot a Development Rights Auction Model for a major infrastructure project in London as a form of land value capture; this – if it works – has the potential to transform infrastructure funding, particularly for transport projects in the UK."

Other commentators expressed disappointment at the lack of housing and planning-related content in the Budget report, but pointed out that this was to be expected following so closely after the publication of last month’s Housing White Paper.

Richard Laming, head of economics at Turley, said: "Support to address the broken housing market, to assist in the regeneration of our towns and cities and measures to address regional economic inequalities are all absent from the Spring Budget.

"The chancellor did not once mention the government’s Housing White Paper, nor its Industrial Strategy Green Paper. This rather suggests that the housing and industrial challenges that the country faces are not considered important enough to feature in this Spring Budget. We would contest this - they are of the utmost importance to the country’s future prosperity."

Nick Taylor, head of planning at property firm Carter Jonas, said: "Following the very recent release of the Housing White Paper, it’s no great surprise that the delivery of new homes was not a key focus in today’s Budget.

"However, we would have welcomed any confirmation from the government around physical incentivisation for housebuilders and urban regeneration schemes. Perhaps there will be some policy change around housing delivery in the next Budget, but in the meantime, we have no choice but to adopt a ‘wait and see’ attitude."

"Following the very recent release of the Housing White Paper, it’s no great surprise that the delivery of new homes was not a key focus in today’s Budget. However, we would have welcomed any confirmation from the government around physical incentivisation for housebuilders and urban regeneration schemes. Perhaps there will be some policy change around housing delivery in the next Budget, but in the meantime, we have no choice but to adopt a ‘wait and see’ attitude.

"The chancellor’s last spring budget will not be remembered for any particular property focused reasons," said Andrew Jackson, director and head of development economics at consultancy Boyer. "Yes it provides some limited softening of the impact of the Business Rates Revaluation on smaller businesses and does signal investment in transport and social infrastructure across the Regions but it was silent on stimulus to build more houses. A lack of housing delivery will undoubtedly impact potential economic growth."

Dominick Veasey, associate director at consultancy Nexus Planning, said: "With the chancellor’s Budget following hot on the heels of the Housing White Paper, it is disappointing that the government declined a golden opportunity to deliver greater clarity on the key aspects of its renewed housing policy.

"Excluding the funding announcement to address road network issues in Northern England and the Midlands, Philip Hammond has left many outstanding questions unanswered.

"As Gavin Barwell confirmed at a recent SEEC event however, the government intends to consult on the NPPF changes very shortly and have them in place by the Summer recess. It remains to be seen whether this will be enough to satisfy those calling for more urgent clarification."

Source: Planning resource