Planning Reform Working Paper published

In line with the Labour Party’s ambition to deliver 1.5 million new homes this Parliament, the government has published its latest working paper, Planning Reform Working Paper: Speeding Up Build Out.

Whilst earlier initiatives have focussed on streamlining the planning application process to increase house building, this paper shifts the emphasis to ensure that granted permissions translate into timely and efficient construction – as the paper puts it, “no-one can live in a planning permission.” 

Our Strategic Land & Residential Development team outlines the paper’s key proposals.

Planning reform: key proposals

The reforms are part of the government’s wider strategy to enhance transparency and accountability within the planning and development process, ensuring that the 1.5 million homes target can be met in practice. These include:

• Build out statements: Developers would be required to submit a build out statement at the planning application stage detailing anticipated delivery timelines and phasing.
• Commencement and progress reporting: Developers would need to issue commencement notices at the start of construction and report annually to the Local Planning Authority (“LPA”) on the development progress.
• Penalties for delay: LPAs would gain new powers to impose penalties where developers fall materially behind agreed delivery schedules (i.e., 90% or less of the planned units) without a valid reason.
• Mixed tenure thresholds: New requirements could mandate a mix of affordable and private housing to accelerate construction.
• Compulsory Purchase Order (“CPO”) reforms: Proposals to strengthen CPO powers could allow LPAs to acquire stalled sites more easily.

What do the plans mean for the property sector?

The proposed changes reflect a clear progression from previous initiatives, moving beyond streamlining planning applications to actively ensuring that homes are delivered on the ground. Landowners, developers and promoters will need to be aware of the new reporting requirements, potential for penalties or, in some cases, compulsory purchaser order if delivery falls behind schedule.

While the proposals aim to accelerate delivery, there are questions around how effective some of these measures will be in practice. Will the introduction of additional reporting

requirements, such as build out statements and annual progress updates add to the administrative burden already faced by developers, and therefore slow down the process?  

Will developers be penalised for slow build out where real-world market constraints, such as labour shortages, material costs are not fully accounted for? 

The proposals are not yet final. The government is currently inviting views on the principles behind its approach to speeding up build out. However, only time will tell in whether this shift in approach will successfully lay the foundations for bringing the 1.5 million new homes target to life.

Read the Planning Reform Working Paper: Speeding Up Build Out here.  

Planning advice and support for developers  

For advice on how these proposals may affect any of your existing or future planning proposals, please get in touch with Lodders’ expert Planning team who will be happy to help.