Following the recent victory of the labour party, the UK is expected to see some changes to the current planning system. Within days of the election, the Labour party have announced that they aim reform the “antiquated” planning system. By the end of the month, the new government will publish a consultation regarding the adaptation of the National Planning Policy Framework, which will have a focus on a pro-growth approach.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has announced that they will reintroduce housing targets which were removed by the Conservative government and will require local authorities to develop Local Plans that reflect accordingly. Over the next 5 years it is pledged that 1.5 million homes will be delivered.
As part of achieving this, the government will push for local authorities to review greenbelt areas and prioritise development of brownfield and grey belt sites. They also aim to introduce a new taskforce to accelerate progress on slow moving housing sites, as well as bringing in 300 more planning officers to support local authorities.
Labour believes it is through measures such as the former that 1000s of new affordable and social homes will be delivered.
In addition to this, the party plan to launch a consultation regarding the development of a number of new towns and aim to have the development sites selected by the end of the year.
Finally, in a move towards a carbon neutral future, it has been announced that the ban on onshore wind will be removed and will be incorporated into the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project regime.
