On 12 March 2020, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) published a policy document entitled ‘Planning for the Future’ which sets out the Government’s plans for the delivery of housing and further reforms to the planning system.
The Government has also announced that this document will be followed by the publication of a Planning White Paper in Spring “to modernise our planning system, ensuring it supports the delivery of homes that local people need and creates more beautiful and greener communities”.
The Planning for the Future paper can be accessed in full at the website link below:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/planning-for-the-future
We discuss below what we consider to be the key reforms to the planning system proposed under the Planning for the Future paper:
- Encouraging brownfield development by launching a national brownfield map and a call for proposals for building above stations.
- Reviewing the formula for calculating Local Housing Need by introducing a new approach which encourages greater building within and near to urban areas and makes sure the country is planning for the delivery of 300,000 new homes a year.
- Introducing a new permitted development right for building upwards on existing buildings, including to extend residential blocks by up to two storeys and to deliver new and bigger homes.
- Consulting on a new permitted development right to allow vacant commercial buildings, industrial buildings and residential blocks to be demolished and replaced with well-designed new residential units which meet natural light standards.
- Requiring all local planning authorities to have up-to-date local plans by December 2023. The Government will prepare to intervene where local authorities fail to meet the deadline in accordance with the existing statutory powers, considering appropriate action on a case by case basis.
- Raising the Housing Delivery test threshold to 75% in November 2020, incentivising local authorities to deliver on their local plans.
- Establishing a new £10 billion Single Housing Infrastructure Fund. Details of the funding will be announced alongside the Spending Review. Homes England will engage with local authorities and the wider market to build a pipeline of opportunities up and down the country.
- Reforms to speed up the planning system, including:
- Introducing a new planning fee structure to ensure that planning authorities are properly resourced to improve the speed and quality of their decisions. This will be linked to a new performance framework to ensure performance improvements across the planning service for all users.
- To promote proper consideration of applications by planning committees, where applications are refused, applicants will be entitled to an automatic rebate of their planning application fee if they are successful at appeal.
- Making it clearer who owns land by requiring greater transparency on land options and exploring wider options to encourage planning permissions to be built out more quickly.
- Expanding the use of zoning tools such as Local Development Orders to support development.
- Improving the effectiveness, take-up and role of Compulsory Purchase Orders to help facilitate land assembly and infrastructure delivery by consulting on introducing statutory timescales for decisions, ending the automatic right to public inquiry, encouraging early agreements on compensations, and exploring the scope to remit more decisions back to local authorities, as well as wider reform.
9. Encouraging more beautiful design by taking the following action:
- Revising the National Planning Policy Framework to embed the principles of good design and placemaking and to make clear that high-quality buildings and places must be considered throughout the planning process. The framework will expand on the fundamental principles of good design to define what is expected of local authorities and developers to support the creation of beautiful places.
- Taking forward recommendations in the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission’s report, which includes calling for urban tree planting and giving communities a greater opportunity to influence design standards in their area.
- Giving local authorities the ability to ensure that new homes conform to local residents’ ideas of beauty through the planning system.
Our lawyers at Planning Clarity Legal have significant experience advising on the impact of planning reforms and how these can also present strategic development opportunities for developers and landowners and if you require our assistance please contact us.
Note: all comments and views expressed in this blog are merely opinions and provided for information purposes only and do not constitute legal advice which can be relied upon. Should you require legal advice on a matter then please contact us
