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Osborne announces planning changes
George Osborne has announced a raft of changes to the planning system as part of the government’s drive to increase housebuilding.
The chancellor, in the Spending Review today, said the government will establish a new ‘delivery test’ for councils to ensure they deliver the number of homes set out in Local Plans.
The government will also allow sites on brownfield sites in the green belt to be developed in the same way as other brownfield sites, as long as they “contribute to Starter Homes” and have been consulted on locally. Starter Homes are homes for first-time buyers sold at a 20% discount.
The government is also amending planning policy to support small schemes and said it will halve the length of time minor developments take to get planning permission. The government will also propose a “more standardised” approach to section 106 viability assessments. It has also pledged to redesignate unused commerical land for Starter Homes.
The changes are designed to aid the government meet its target of building 400,000 new affordable homes, mainly for sale, by 2020/21.
