The government has promised to unleash the biggest building boom in a generation through its wide-ranging planning reform bill, which will head into parliament today.
Drafted in response to a crisis which has seen a massive shortage of affordable housing, as well as rising house prices and rents to due undersupply, the bill intends to speed up planning decisions to boost construction.
“The Planning and Infrastructure Bill will unleash seismic reforms to help builders get shovels in the ground quicker to build more homes, and the vital infrastructure we need to improve transport links and make Britain a clean energy superpower to protect billpayers,” Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing, Angela Rayner, said.
The bill will also come alongside wider planning reforms, including the new National Planning Policy Framework.
But what, exactly, does it change about Britain’s outdated planning system?
Planning Committees
The bill will set up a national scheme of delegation, which will aim to streamline currently-lengthy planning decisions.
The scheme will set out which types of applications should be determined by officers and which should go to committee.
Currently, smaller or less controversial planning applications are often determined by officers and larger, more sensitive schemes go to a committee.
Whether a scheme goes to a committee is generally determined by the local councillor, but this can also be triggered by a large number of objections to the site.
Labour’s delegation scheme will also control the size of planning committees “to ensure good debate is encouraged, with large and unwieldy committees banned”, and implement mandatory training for planning committee members.
Compulsory Purchase Reform
The bill will also change the UK’s compulsory purchase process, which allows land to be acquired for projects that are in the public interest.
‘Projects that are in the public interest’ include housing, new roads, community facilities like schools and hospitals.
Reforms will ensure compensation paid to landowners is “not excessive” and speed up the process of using directions to remove ‘hope value’.
Hope value refers to the future value of a piece of land when the proposed development has come to fruition.
“Where there are no objections”, inspectors, councils or mayors will take decisions on these projects instead of the secretary of state, the government said.
Development Corporations
The bill will strengthen Development Corporations (DCs), which are statutory bodies set up to facilitate development in areas that need large-scale co-ordination of investment and planning.
The government aims to use DCs to build its new towns. Up to 12 new towns will be under construction by the next election, Labour has said.
“[DCs’] enhanced powers will help deliver the vision for the next generation of new towns – a new programme of well-designed, beautiful communities with affordable housing, GP surgeries, schools and public transport where people will want to live,” the government said.
There are currently around 20 DCs in operation in the UK, spread across hubs like Manchester and old new towns like Basildon and Crawley.
Strategic Planning
The bill will increase focus on a system of ‘strategic planning’ across England, known as spatial development strategies.
The system will consider areas across multiple local planning authorities for new builds, and will prioritise matching development needs and infrastructure requirements.
The framework for spatial planning in the UK was established by the Town and Country Planning Act of 1947.
Currently, mayors – outside of London – can only develop a statutory spatial development strategy with the unanimous agreement of all councils covered by the strategy, making planning a struggle. Labour’s plan, however, will give more powers to mayors.
Rayner has previously said that all areas will have to produce a spatial development strategy under the new planning system.
“We will rewire national government so that our first instincts are to deliver in partnership with mayors and council leaders, not sideline them until the last moment,” she said in a forward to the English Devolution White Paper: Power and Partnership: Foundations for Growth.
National Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIP)
NSIPs are large-scale developments critical to the country’s infrastructure – such as energy, transport and water projects.
The national policies against which infrastructure applications are assessed will be updated at least every five years, and the consultation requirements for projects will be streamlined.
Changes will be made to the Highways Act and the Transport and Works Act, while the process by which government decisions on major infrastructure projects can be challenged will be overhauled, too.
“Meritless” cases will only have one – rather than three – attempts at legal challenge.
Over half of all decisions on major infrastructure have been taken to court.
Additional changes
Clean energy projects, including wind and solar power, will be prioritised for grid connections.
“A ‘first ready, first connected’ system will replace the flawed ‘first come, first served’ approach”, Labour said, which will prioritise projects needed to deliver clean power and protect Brits from the “roller coaster” of fossil fuel markets.
To help reduce nimbyism, people living within 500 metres of new pylons across the country will get £2,500 off their electricity bills over the next 10 years.
A nature restoration fund will also be established, which builders will be able to pay into during construction. This means builders can “meet their environmental obligations faster and at a greater scale” by “pooling contributions to fund larger environmental interventions”, Labour said.