Reforms to the planning system could see house building delivered three times faster as the Labour government continue to tackle its manifesto pledge to build 1.5m in this Parliament.
In a Ministerial Statement, Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook said one of the key elements of the reforms would be to improve the transparency and efficiency of local plans. The Minister indicated fewer than one third of local areas have a local plan in place; despite widespread acknowledgement of the benefits.
“The current way of preparing plans is not optimised for community participation. Plans can be lengthy, hard to read and difficult for those without specialist planning knowledge to engage with. They also often take a long time to prepare, at least seven years on average, which means they can be out of date too quickly, and communities struggle to understand the many different consultation phases.
said Pennycook, adding the reforms would establish clear expectations for them to be made within two-and-a-half-years; nearly three times faster. The proposed changes includes regular assessments to ensure councils remain on target, and adopting digital tools to increase transparency on available land for new development. A new website to provide guidance on how plans should be prepared and updated has also been launched.
To tackle the shortage of planning officers an additional £4.5m to fund salary bursaries for new planning roles has been provided; hoping to pass the manifesto commitment of 300 extra planners by the end of 2026. Given some councils have near 50% vacancy rates, there is some way to go to achieve this.
The government will point to these reforms as further evidence of their intent to ‘Get Britain Building’ having introduced mandatory housing targets National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) in December, and creating a series of Golden Rules which councils must use to drive forward their local plans. 133 local authorities will receive £70,000 to contribute to the costs of conducting Green Belt reviews in their areas.
Housing and Planning Minister Matthew Pennycook said:
“The plan-led approach is, and must remain, the cornerstone of our planning system and the government are determined to progress toward universal coverage of local plans. The steps we are taking today will ensure that local plans are simpler, faster to prepare and more accessible so that communities in every part of the country can more easily shape decisions about how to deliver the housing and wider development their areas need.
“Alongside further guidance and support to help local authorities realise the full potential of this government’s planning reforms, these changes will help deliver our ambitious Plan for Change milestone of building 1.5 million new homes in this Parliament.”
