Jenrick announces revised planning proposals

The government has revised its proposals to reform the planning system after criticism from MPs, charities and local authorities.

Housing secretary Robert Jenrick has today announced there will be a updated housing need formula, which will prioritise brownfield sites and urban areas.

Under the new proposals, cities will also be encouraged to plan for more family homes – which are the right size and type for families to live in – and to make the most of vacant buildings and underused land to protect green spaces.

The plans will encourage more homes to be built in England’s 20 largest cities and urban centres, boosting local economies by supporting jobs in the building sector, and revitalising high streets with the footfall new residents bring.

The government said it also intends to revise the so-called ‘80/20 rule’ which guides how much funding is available to local areas to help build homes.

According to the government, this will establish a new principle to ensure funding is not just concentrated in London and the South East.

The government has also said it intends to launch a new £100m Brownfield Land Release fund in January to support brownfield development, estates regeneration, development on public sector land and self and custom-build serviced plots in coming forward.

This will be open to councils across England, apart from those mayoral combined authority areas that recently benefited from the £400m brownfield fund.

The government first announced it wanted to reform the planning system in August, but since then it has opposition from its own backbench MPs, the Local Government Association and the CPRE.

‘This government wants to build more homes as a matter of social justice, for intergenerational fairness and to create jobs for working people,’ said Mr Jenrick.

‘We are reforming our planning system to ensure it is simpler and more certain without compromising standards of design, quality and environmental protection.

‘A new expert Urban Centre Recovery Task Force has been set up to advise on the development and regeneration of our great town and city centres. The Task Force includes Peter Freeman, the visionary behind the redevelopment of Kings’ Cross and new chair of Homes England.’

Nigel Wilson, chair of Homes for the North said: ‘We welcome today’s announcement. Homes for the North has long been lobbying government to look again at its housing policy that has been hampering growth in the North.’

Homes for the North’s research identified the 80:20 rule, used by Homes England for the distribution of housing infrastructure investment, as an obstacle to the levelling-up agenda. It has led to only 12% of the £5.5bn Housing Infrastructure Fund being allocated to the North by the end of March 2020, a fraction of its share of English households at 28%.

The proposed new standard method for establishing housing requirements through the planning system was also on course to level-down the North. Whilst the North’s share of housing delivery has been around 24% of the national total over the last three years, under the Government’s proposed new standard method, this could have fallen to as low as 15%.

‘Homes for the North, with the support of political and business leaders, has been calling for a change to the funding rules and planning formula to ensure the right homes are built in the right places,’ added Mr Wilson.

‘We are really pleased that the government has been listening and seems to be serious about changing policies which have been a real barrier to the delivery of the type of homes that are needed in the North.’

Photo Credit – Padrinan (Pixabay)