Planning reforms package delayed until November

A proposed overhaul of planning rules which is set to see “top down” housing targets scrapped as regulations are reviewed has been delayed until next month, according to reports in the national press.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has declined to comment on the report in the Times today, which said that the proposed changes to the planning system have now been pushed back until after the publication of the chancellor’s “medium term fiscal plan” on October 31.

There had been intense speculation in recent days that the statement had been due as soon as next week, with the document thought likely to contain a raft of deregulatory proposals, reducing developers’ obligation around affordable housing, environmental regulations and consultation.

In particular, it had been reported that the threshold at which developers are obliged to contribute to affordable housing was to be raised from 10 home schemes currently, to either 40 or 50 homes, a move which would reduce affordable housing delivery by around a fifth.

It was also reported that the government planned to water down new obligations around delivering biodiversity net gain through the planning system, under which developers have to increase the amount of biodiversity on their sites by 10% with their development plans.

The statement had been slated for October 19, with that date previously confirmed to Housing Today by policy sources. Planning reform is one of the proposed “supply side” reforms that that the government has argued will help deliver the economic growth it has claimed it can produce in the September Growth Plan.

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The government has already made plain that it plans to reduce environmental regulations, planning contributions and consultation requirements within Investment Zones, but it had been presumed that outside these areas, rules would not be dramatically changed.

The government is likely to be looking at more radical pro-development planning reform given the likelihood of a sharp drop in planning approvals with the promised abolition of housing targets. However, environmental groups are already making plain their opposition to the government’s policy drift, with the bosses of three of the UK’s biggest conservation groups, the Wildlife Trust, the National Trust and RSPB yesterday meeting to discuss their response and stating that “all options were on the table”.

The Times report did not say why the government has now apparently decide to delay the announcement. However, one source close to government said: “It’s quite a bind the government has got itself into. Its policy is pushing in two different directions.” Other sources said that, given backbench opposition to previous planning reforms, the extent of reforms now likely to be able to get through Parliament was limited.

A government spokesperson declined to comment directly on the timing of the announcement, but said: “The government is committed to exploring policies that build the homes people need, deliver new jobs, support economic development and boost local economies.” 

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