Labour to slash powers of councils in bid to unclog planning and bypass NIMBYs
8 December 2024, 00:09
Labour will stop council planning committees from blocking development which meet local plan requirements, Angela Rayner is set to announce.
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The Deputy Prime Minister will announce imminently that planning applications which meet local development plan requirements will bypass council committees.
Ms Rayner says that these reforms would be aiming to end delays and cut the time needed to get homes built.
The changes represent an attempt from Sir Keir Starmer's party to meet his target of 1.5 million new homes to be built in the next five years.
The pledge was reiterated at Starmer's press conference laying out his plan to meet his manifesto targets last week.
Ms Rayner, who is also the Housing Secretary, 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 act as a drag anchor on building the homes people desperately need."
The Deputy Prime Minister said the Government was "tackling the housing crisis we inherited head-on with bold action" as it worked towards building 1.5 million homes over five years.
The housebuilding commitment was one of the six "milestones" the Prime Minister set out in a wide-ranging speech on Thursday, against which the public can measure the Government's performance.
Under Ms Rayner's proposals, council officials would have a strengthened role in decision-making about planning while the councillors who sit on the committees will get new mandatory training.
Alongside the reforms, the Government is this week expected to confirm sweeping changes to the National Planning Policy Framework - the document which sets out national priorities for building - following a consultation.
This is expected to see increased housing targets which will be mandatory for the first time, with the aim of reaching the Government's pledge to build 1.5 million homes this Parliament.
Ms Rayner said: "Through our Planning and Infrastructure Bill, alongside new National Planning Policy Framework and mandatory housing targets, we are taking decisive steps to accelerate building, get spades in the ground and deliver the change communities need."
