The Labour government wants development projects to bypass planning committees when they comply with local plans.
They will also “strengthen” the decision-making powers for planners, leaving little doubt as to who has the authority in making decisions.
The government said too much time is spent considering applications which are compliant, which is “wasting the time of councillors, applicants and delaying good outcomes for places and for communities”.
Labour added that, in a number of cases, it’s not clear when an application will go to a planning committee or not.
Therefore the government called for a ‘standardised’ approach to delegation, dedicated committees to deal with the most significant projects, and training for councillors before they join a committee.
Angela Rayner, deputy prime minister, said “building more homes and infrastructure across the country means unblocking the clogged-up planning system that serves as a chokehold on growth. The government will deliver a sweeping overhaul of the creaking local planning committee system. Streamlining the approvals process by modernising local planning committees means tackling the chronic uncertainty and damaging delays that acts as a drag anchor on building the homes people desperately need.”
Matthew Evans, counsel in the planning team at Forsters law firm, said “providing greater consistency within the planning system is welcome. The revisions to the NPPF, expected this week, are only ever going to be able to go so far in helping to speed up the planning system and greater reform will be needed to truly make a difference, especially given the incredibly ambitious housing targets that the government has set.
Moving to a system where delegated decisions are made by default seems like a sensible option. The government is looking to emphasise that this is a plan led system (with greater enforcement for those local authorities that fail to have one in place), and it’s therefore logical that applications that comply with Local Plans are approved quickly. The next challenge is ensuring that the plan-making system is streamlined and efficient, there are elements of local plans that can be standardised.
With the right reform in place, we should be able to get to a position where local people are involved in plan-making, decisions are made promptly by qualified planning officers and developers approach applications knowing the parameters a development needs to sit within. It might not deliver 1.5 million homes, but it would save time, money and get Britain building a bit faster.”
The Prime Minister and his deputy have set out still more planning reforms in a bid to build 1.5m homes by the end of this parliament.
Under new planning rules, updated via the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)
- councils will be told to play their part to meet housing need, with new immediate mandatory housing targets to ramp up housebuilding and deliver growth across the country – local targets are being increased by some 370,000 in total;
- areas with the highest unaffordability for housing and greatest potential for growth will see housebuilding targets increase most, while stronger action will ensure councils adopt up-to-date local plans or develop new plans that work for their communities. Councils failing to set new targets on local plans will be obliged to increase the volume of land they designate for housing;
- what the government calls “a new common-sense approach” will be introduced to the greenbelt. While remaining committed to a brownfield first approach, the updated NPPF will require councils to review their greenbelt boundaries to meet targets, identifying and prioritising lower quality ‘grey belt’ land;
- any development on greenbelt must meet strict requirements, via the new ‘golden rules’, which require developers to provide the necessary infrastructure for local communities, such as nurseries, GP surgeries and transport, as well as a premium level of social and affordable housing;
- to further tackle the housing crisis, councils and developers will also need to give greater consideration to social rent when building new homes and local leaders have greater powers to build genuinely affordable homes for those who need them most.
Sir Kier Starmer says “for far too long, working people graft hard but are denied the security of owning their own home. I know how important it is – our pebble dash semi meant everything to our family growing up. But with a generation of young people whose dream of homeownership feels like a distant reality, and record levels of homelessness, there’s no shying away from the housing crisis we have inherited.”
Councils to get more powers over landlords of empty properties
Councils will be handed new powers next month which the government claims will “breathe new life back into high streets and transform long-term empty shops.”
High Street Rental Auctions (HSRAs) will allow local leaders to tackle persistently vacant properties by putting the leases up for auction.
The government statement says “this will boost the high street through ‘right to rent’ commercial lots for businesses and community groups, after the powers come into force on December 2 through legislation stated in November. The move will stop disengaged landlords from sitting on empty properties for more than 365 days in a 24-month period, before councils can step in and auction a one-to-five year lease.”
With one in seven high street shops currently closed the government claims it is committed to revitalising town centres.
Local Growth Minister Alex Norris says "high streets are the beating heart of our communities. But for too long, too many have been neglected, with more and more empty lots and boarded up shopfronts. We are giving local councils the tools to take back control. High Street Rental Auctions will put local communities first, re-energising town centres and driving local opportunities and growth.”
HSRAs form part of the government’s strategy for town centres, which it says includes
- Freezing the small business multiplier, “protecting 90% of properties from inflationary increases in business rate liabilities”;
- Pledging to permanently lower business tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure properties (RHL) from 2026-27;
- Providing access to finance – committing £250m in 2025-26 for the British Business Bank’s small business loans programmes;
- Increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500 and removing the £100,000 threshold, expanding this to all eligible employers.
- The government will publish a new Small Business Strategy next year, setting out further measures to support SMEs and drive growth across the country.
Originally introduced by the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023, the High Street Rental Auctions powers will come into force on December 2 following the laying of secondary legislation on Monday. Before putting a property to a rental auction, a local authority must first seek to resolve the vacancy by engaging with the landlord.