The government is seeking four major changes to the current planning system, ahead of “landmark” reforms.
It aims to extend permission in principle to fast-track major developments without the need for detailed plans.
Developers will no longer be required to deliver affordable housing on sites of over 50 homes. It will also launch the First Homes initiative, whereby developer contributions will fund a 30% discount on homes sold to first-time buyers.
The government will also make changes to the standard method for assessing local housing need, with local authorities required to update their Local Plans.
The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government has launched an eight-week consultation on these shorter-term measures to “improve the immediate effectiveness of the current system”.
1 Fast-track major developments
The wider reform aims to provide automatic outline approvals for larger developments. Ahead of this, the government will remove current restrictions on permission in principle to allow major developments.
The current PiP allows minor development of up to 10 homes with up to 10,700 sq ft of commercial space. Proposals seek to scrap these limits for housing-led schemes, instead allowing up to 150 homes and unlimited commercial space.
It will lower the fees for these applications, but the process and time frames would not change, with a five-week determination period and 14-day consultation.
2 Sites exempt from affordable housing
To stimulate new building and economic recovery, the government said it will raise the threshold for affordable housing on small sites to 50.
It expects the loss of affordable housing through the exemption will be between 10-20% over a year, compared with 7-14% with the current threshold of sites of up to 40 homes.
It will do this for an initial period of 18 months and then review the approach.
3 New First Homes for affordable ownership
A minimum of 25% of all affordable homes delivered through section 106 contributions should be delivered under the new First Homes tenure, with the expectation that most of these will be delivered onsite.
There are two options for the remaining 75% of affordable homes. First Homes could replace shared ownership homes up to the 25% threshold, allowing the remaining to be split over other tenures in line with local plan policy, or the 75% could be renegotiated with the developer.
4 Revised housing need assessment
The new method for assessing housing need aims to deliver more homes in areas where they are least affordable. It will take into account existing stock levels combined with household projections and flexible affordable housing measures, also accounting for future changes.
It estimates that the new method will see 141 local authorities with a change of more than 25% compared with current identified needs.
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