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The following information comes from Civic Voice:

Today (30th July 2024) the Government unveiled a major overhaul of the planning system aimed at tackling the nation’s acute housing crisis and stimulating economic growth. This ambitious plan includes new mandatory housing targets for councils and reforms to both the planning system and housing policies. An eight-week consultation has begun immediately, with the final document expected to be adopted in late September. Please visit the consultation here.

Key elements of the consultation include:

  • Annual Housing Target: In a statement in Parliament today, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner announced that the new annual housing target will be 370,000 homes per year. This new target represents a significant increase from previous goals and aims to address the severe housing shortage across the country.
  • Mandatory Housing Targets: All councils in England will now be assigned new, mandatory targets to deliver an additional 1.5 million homes. This initiative is designed to address the most pressing housing needs and spur housebuilding in regions where it is most required.
  • Local Plans and Community Engagement: Local plans will play a crucial role in determining how homes and infrastructure are developed with Raynor indicating in her statement to Parliament that this will be the main area of engagement.
  • Green Belt Review: Councils will be required to review their green belt land and prioritise ‘grey belt’ land where necessary. Development in the Green Belt will be governed by new “golden rules,” mandating that 50% of homes built must be affordable. Additionally, developments must enhance access to green spaces and ensure the provision of essential infrastructure such as schools and GP surgeries.
  • Definition of Grey Belt: For the purposes of plan-making and decision-making, grey belt will be defined as land in the Green Belt comprising Previously Developed Land and any other parcels and/or areas of Green Belt land that make a limited contribution to the five Green Belt purposes (as defined in paragraph 140 of the Framework), but excluding those areas or assets of particular importance listed in footnote 7 of the Framework (other than land designated as Green Belt).
  • Grey Belt Land: In areas where councils lack up-to-date plans or fail to meet local housing targets, homebuilders will be permitted to propose developments on grey belt land.
  • Brownfield Development: The Government will prioritise brownfield sites for new development, with a clear directive that the default position should be “yes” to brownfield proposals. This is to encourage higher-density housing in urban centres.
  • Well-designed or Beautiful: The consultation will also address whether to retain references to well-designed buildings and places but remove references to ‘beauty’ and ‘beautiful,’ and to amend paragraph 138 of the existing Framework.
  • Support for Social and Affordable Housing: Reforms will include changes to the Right to Buy policy, granting councils greater flexibility to use receipts for building and acquiring more social homes. The Government also plans to reverse the decline in social rent homes and will detail further investments in affordable housing in the upcoming spending review.
  • Local Authority Housing Fund: The third round of the Local Authority Housing Fund will proceed, allocating £450 million to councils to create homes for families at risk of homelessness.
  • Infrastructure Projects: The reforms aim to facilitate the development of key infrastructure, including laboratories, gigafactories, data centres, and large-scale wind and solar projects.
  • Additional reforms will be introduced through the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, focusing on strategic planning and streamlining the planning process.

The Government will respond to the consultation and publish revisions to the National Planning Policy Framework before the end of the year, aiming for swift implementation of policy changes.

Consultation Details: An eight-week consultation has started immediately, with the adoption of the final document planned for late September. The consultation comprises 106 questions, covering a wide range of topics related to the planning reforms.

Ian Harvey of Civic Voice said:

“Based on what the Deputy Prime Minister said today, this is just the start of the reforms. An eight-week consultation has begun immediately, and further reforms will be introduced through the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, focusing on strategic planning and streamlining the planning process. Civic Voice will be actively involved in this process. Trustees will meet shortly and provide further briefings to support Civic Societies in crafting their responses to the consultation. We will bring civic societies and communities together to debate the consultation. It’s crucial that our members—who are located in communities across the country—provide their perspectives as we work with the Government to ensure the best outcomes possible. The consultation, which consists of 106 questions, has started and will run until 23rd September, with the final document expected to be adopted later in the month. We have received an invitation to meet the Housing Minister, so we encourage all members to participate and share their views during this important period, and we will feed them back to the Minister, and through the consultation.”

For further information and to participate in the consultation, please visit the Government’s official consultation page here.