Planning minister Yvette Cooper has suggested that the government could set the Planning Gain Supplement (PGS) at a lower rate for environmentally-friendly developments.
She said that the idea “had merit” and was definitely “something that should be considered.”
She gave her backing to the idea when questioned by MPs at today’s Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) committee meeting, adding that measures could be tied in to the code for sustainable homes proposed earlier this year.
But Cooper ruled out a lower rate for brownfield or commercial development.
She added that the government wanted a simple system with as few exceptions as possible, and did not “want to disrtort the market, creating an incentive to use land in one particular way.”
Yesterday, the government launched a new competition challenging developers to build eco-friendly “communities” at six sites across the country.
References: EGi News 18/05/06
