The Ministry of Housing is proposing that development sites of fewer than 10 homes will be subject to less onerous planning rules and speedier treatment, with reduced or no biodiversity net gain requirements.
It is also looking to create a new middle category in the planning system: medium residential developments. of between 10 and 49 homes. These could also have simpler BNG requirements and be exempt from the Building Safety Levy.
The reforms are fleshed out in a pair of documents released by the ministry: Planning Reform Working Paper: Reforming Site Thresholds; and Reform of planning committees: technical consultation.
Deputy prime minister and housing secretary Angela Rayner said: “Smaller housebuilders must be the bedrock of our Plan for Change to build 1.5 million homes and fix the housing crisis we’ve inherited – and get working people on the housing ladder. For decades the status quo has failed them and it’s time to level the playing field.
“Today we’re taking urgent action to make the system simpler, fairer and more cost effective, so smaller housebuilders can play a crucial role in our journey to get Britain building.”
The consultation on reforming planning committees includes proposals for a national scheme of delegation that would direct the majority of minor and technical applications to unelected, unaccountable planning officers, putting only to the most complex and controversial applications to committees of elected members.
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