New laws came into force today to speed up the planning system, hold developers to account, cut bureaucracy, and encourage more councils to put in place plans to enable the building of new homes.
These measures have become enshrined in law after the Levelling-Up and Regeneration Bill received Royal Assent. The Government is on track to meet its manifesto commitment of delivering one million homes over this Parliament, and earlier this year the Housing Secretary set out his long-term plan for housing.
Building more homes in areas most in need is a key part of levelling up, and the Act will also deliver further measures to support regeneration in left-behind communities. Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Rt Hon Michael Gove MP said:
“Our landmark Levelling-Up and Regeneration Act will deliver more homes for communities across the country and unleash levelling up in left-behind places.
It will deliver revitalised high streets and town centres. A faster and less bureaucratic planning system with developers held to account. More beautiful homes built alongside GP surgeries, schools and transport links, and environmental enhancement. Communities taking back control of their future with new powers to shape their local area. And our long-term levelling up missions enshrined in law.
This Act delivers on the people’s priorities, creating new jobs, new opportunities and a brighter future for the UK.”
The Act creates new laws that will transform town centres by giving councils the powers to work directly with landlords to bring empty buildings back into use by local businesses and community groups.
The Government has so far invested £12.9 billion in levelling up projects across the UK – creating jobs, improving transport and protecting community spaces. The measures in the Levelling-Up and Regeneration Act will support communities and local authorities to transform their local areas, complementing government investment in projects that will help regenerate left behind areas.
The Act will ensure the homes we need are built where they are needed in urban areas rather than concreting over the countryside. It also secures powers to tailor environmental assessment to better reflect the current pressures on the environment and meet the nation’s environmental priorities. This cuts burdensome EU-red tape which held up assessments.
The planning system already received a boost in the summer, with an additional £37.5 million for councils to bolster staffing – including a new £24 million to tackle backlogs, and £13.5 million as part of the long-term plan for housing that will upskill the sector with new planning super squads.
The Government will publish its response to last December’s National Planning Policy Framework consultation in due course. This will set out how planning policies in England are expected to be applied to help deliver the right homes in the right places.
2 Responses
No point in building if you are building rubbish. Ensure that any new buildings are built properly to withstand the test of time (and climate change) and so that home owners are not left out of pocket with worthless 10 year guarantees or having to find money to litigate to take the developer to court to put right shoddy unsafe building (regardless of height). Sort out the corruption within the building industry before you allow planning for more properties to be built. Train tradespeople to be proud of their work, and not just put up buildings with missing safety barriers – this applies equally to houses and flats. There’s a much bigger problem than just “building” more homes. Watch the BBC documentary on the housing crisis – you will see how many properties have fallen into disrepair and disgusting where people still have to live in them as no where else to go.
I completely agree with every word that Anonymous wrote on 30/10/23 – there is a bigger problem than just building homes – the poor quality of homes being built has to be addressed and corruption is rife through the building industry. The BBC 1 documentary on the housing crisis demonstrates this perfectly.