March 11th saw the government issue a press release regarding the introduction of the “Planning and Infrastructure Bill” which was presented to parliament. The new Labour government have claimed they intend to build 1.5 million homes, whilst also making Britain a clean energy superpower.

It has been well documented that building new homes stalled significantly under the leadership of the previous government. Everything from the delays of planning permission and blocking of the infrastructure projects through to the change of use on sites have left a mark on the building industry.

The new Planning and Infrastructure Bill is expected to be part of the boost to increase the economy. With reforms already to the National Planning Policy Framework, the goal is to remove the bureaucratic burden that projects fall foul of, meaning that the start of projects can be brought forward by months and create employment for millions and homes for families.

The press release states
Planning Committees
Housebuilding will be backed by streamlining planning decisions through the introduction of a national scheme of delegation that will set out which types of applications should be determined by officers, and which should go to committee, have controls over the size of planning committees to ensure good debate is encouraged with large and unwieldy committees banned, and mandatory training for planning committee members. Councils will also be empowered to set their own planning fees to allow them to cover their costs – with the stretched system currently running at a deficit of £362 million in the recent year. This money will be reinvested back into the system to speed it up.

 There are also changes including a Nature Restoration Fund, which allows payments to be made into a trust which will oversee larger environmental projects, rather than the building industry needing to meet environmental obligations. Another change is to the Compulsory Purchase Reform, where land is allowed to be acquired in the public interest. This includes ensuring compensation to landlords is fair and not excessive, as well as allowing local inspectors and councils to make decisions that were previously reserved by the Secretary of State.