Treasury figures £3bn cost of planning to the economy unreliable

The Telegraph reports that the figures were based on CBI estimates that themselves are nearly 20 years old.   The RTPI said “We don’t think there is any evidence, that planning costs the economy £3billion.”

Some people believe that the CBI traffic congestion cost estimate originating from around the same time was a "back of the envelope" calculation, which has subsequently been adjusted for inflation.