Developers face prolonged uncertainty around planning regulations following delays to a raft of government reforms in the wake of the EU referendum vote.
The first draft of the Neighbourhood Planning & Infrastructure Bill was expected to be published in the week ending 15 July, kick-starting reforms to compulsory purchase and pre-commencement planning conditions aimed at speeding up housebuilding.
However, last week’s Cabinet reshuffle meant there was temporarily no housing minister to introduce the bill, and newly appointed Gavin Barwell was only in post for a few days before the summer recess began.
Sparse details about the contents of the bill, including suggested new powers for the National Infrastructure Commission, were released during the Queen’s speech in May.
The industry will now have to wait until MPs return to parliament on 5 September for more.
The British Property Federation has urged government to introduce a policy support package for the industry, including CIL relief and SDLT relief, in reaction to fears raised by senior surveyors canvassed by the RICS of a “significant downturn”.
Simon Ricketts, a planning lawyer at King & Wood Mallesons, said: “It is disappointing because the housing and planning agenda should be central to the themes that Theresa May has started to develop in terms of meeting the housing deficit and dealing with social inequality and planning infrastructure.
“That does necessitate a focus on the government’s role in removing obstacles to planning and development and it would have been nice to have seen some continuity within the Department for Communities and Local Government.”
The referendum has also delayed the publication of the government-backed community infrastructure levy review, which is expected to call for a radical overhaul of how the tax is implemented. Consultation results for changes to starter homes regulations, business rates revaluations and national planning policy are all now unlikely to be published before September.
A DCLG spokesman said the bill would be published “in due course”.
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