Housing and Levelling Up Secretary, Michael Gove is vowing to build more homes “in the right places where there is local consent” but won’t “concrete over the countryside.”
Gove is setting up a new “super-squad” team of leading planners and other experts charged with working across the planning system to unblock major housing developments.
The team will first be deployed in Cambridge to turbocharge plans in the city.
A £24m Planning Skills Delivery Fund will also help to clear backlogs and get the right skills in place in the underfunded planning system.
Developers will also be asked to contribute more in fees.
Planning rules will also be loosened to convert shops, takeaways and betting shops into homes which will help to rejuvenate the high street. =
Red tape will also be cut to enable barn conversions and the repurposing of agricultural buildings and disused warehouses.
Gove said: “Most people agree that we need to build more homes – the question is how we go about it.
“Rather than concreting over the countryside, we have set out a plan today to build the right homes in the right places where there is community support – and we’re putting the resources behind it to help make this vision a reality.
“At the heart of this is making sure that we build beautiful and empower communities to have a say in the development in their area.”
Industry reaction:
Mark Reynolds, Chief Executive, Mace: “One of our biggest challenge as an industry is a lack of clarity over the future pipeline of construction work across the UK. This welcome funding for more planning experts will help to decrease waiting times for planning decisions – a major cause of uncertainty and delay in delivery across the construction sector – and a review of permitted development rights could help to unlock UK-wide growth through the opportunity for more work across the country for the repair, maintenance and improvement sector.”
Dean Finch CEO, Persimmon: “Persimmon welcomes the proposals announced today to deliver much needed reform of the planning system with the aim of accelerating the development of new homes that will help hard-pressed people achieve their dream of affordable home ownership.”
Andrew Davies, CEO, Kier Group: “Construction and Infrastructure have a key role to play in supporting economic growth. As such, any steps taken to speed up planning consents and invest in the improvement and regeneration of communities are welcome.”
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