#planning-reform

#planning-reform

"Playing fields are irreplaceable - and Sport England's statutory consultee role is an important line of defence. "Weakening this protection risks accelerating the loss of the very spaces that make grassroots sportand physical activity possible, at a time when participation is growing and demand has never been higher." Sport England declined to comment, but this month said it protected more than a thousand playing fields across the country last year.

Over the past four months I have thoroughly enjoyed my time as the chancellor's infrastructure and planning adviser, and in my time have had the ability to advise HM Treasury and help steer the important steps the government is taking to improve the planning system to support economic growth. I look forward to continuing my engagement with HM Treasury and government as I return to the private sector.

While an element of despair is forgivable, it is imperative that the plan be given a chance to work - not least as it's the only game in town. For it to fall flat again is too horrific to contemplate. It has encouraging elements, including the recognition of the need for increased infrastructure investment to support new developments. If ministers are serious about providing a "clear and robust framework" for construction, all the better.

The government's planning bill will reach its final stages before it is given royal assent in the coming days, after months of tussling between ministers, nature groups and ecologists. The government has promised to rip up the rules to allow 1.5m homes to be built by the end of this parliament as part of its push for growth. As last-minute wrangling over the reforms continues, peers have secured a key amendment that would ensure species such as dormice, nightingales and hedgehogs,

The new Section 73B, introduced in the Levelling-Up and Regeneration Act 2023, is intended to fill that gap. It would provide a formal route to vary permissions as long as the outcome is not "substantially different" from the original consent. This means that, in future, a homeowner could request small design or material adjustments to an approved extension - such as a modest footprint change or revised window placement - without needing to start over.

Planning reform among five key planks of new housing plan Controversial 'housing tsar' role still in limbo Rules on one-off housing to be relaxed Government under pressure to deliver on housing pledges The Government will move towards using state-owned homeless accommodation in a bid to greatly reduce the €360m it spends each year, as one of the key planks of its housing plan to be launched next month.

Rachel Reeves unblocked a development of 20,000 homes that were being held up by a rare snail, after being approached by a developer with whom she said, we have a good relationship. The government has been working on planning reforms that nature experts say put wildlife at risk. The reforms could include discarding the EU-derived habitats regulations that protect rare animals, and adding more pro-building amendments to the controversial Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which is going through parliament.

Rachel Reeves is poised to unveil a package of planning reforms and tax increases in her first full Budget on 26 November, as the Chancellor faces the daunting task of closing a £30 billion shortfall in the public finances. The Treasury is said to be exploring a range of measures to stimulate growth while raising revenue, including restoring the bank surcharge to 8 per cent-a move expected to generate around £2 billion annually.

Ministers have told officials at the Environment Agency to wave through planning applications with minimal resistance, as part of a major regulatory shakeup designed to increase economic growth and plug the government's financial hole. Officials at the agency say they have been told to do as little as legally possible to prevent housing applications from being approved, with the government also drafting in senior advisers from the housing department to speed up the process.

The former environment secretary inherited the housing brief from Angela Rayner in last week's reshuffle, after she resigned over her tax affairs. Reed told the BBC the only way out of what he called a housing "crisis" was to "build baby build" and threatened sanctions on developers who dragged their feet, although he did not specify what that might entail.

Hedgehog highways and bird-safe glass could become requirements for all new buildings as members of the House of Lords push through amendments to the government's planning bill. This may cause a headache for ministers, who have tried to avoid burdening developers with laws on nature measures such as swift bricks. The new Lords amendments include mandated provision for these nesting boxes, which campaigners say are crucial for the survival of the threatened species.

Dozens of organisations have signed an open letter calling on the government to scrap office-to-residential conversions in England, which analysis has found led to the loss of almost 28,000 affordable homes. Local government campaigners, housing providers and homelessness charities have all joined the call to abolish some permitted development rights (PDR), which grant automatic planning permission to building projects and are often used to convert office blocks into housing.

Building new homes takes a long, long time. Often, developments get stuck in the planning system for years and years before they finally start construction, and that means housing isn't getting built fast enough to keep up with demand. But the government has come up with a scheme that it hopes will solve that. Two London neighbourhoods are among six sites in England that have just been added to the government's New Homes Accelerator programme.