The government has set out its planned strategy for addressing future growth, which includes planning reforms and changes to local government, as well as the scrapping of the zero carbon Allowable Solutions carbon offsetting scheme and the planned increase in on-site energy efficiency standards.
HM Treasury writes:
This document sets out a 15-point plan that the government will put into action to boost the UK’s productivity growth, centred around two key pillars: encouraging long-term investment, and promoting a dynamic economy. It sets out the government’s long-term strategy for tackling ?the issues that matter most for productivity growth.
Key points which may be of interest to IHBC members (taken from the report) include:
- reform planning rules on taller mobile masts (p10)
- introduce a new zonal system which will effectively give automatic permission on suitable brownfield sites (p.11)
- take tougher action to ensure that local authorities are using their powers to get local plans in place and make homes available for local people, intervening to arrange for local plans to be written where necessary (p.11)
- bring forward proposals for stronger, fairer compulsory purchase powers, and devolution of major new planning powers to the Mayors of London and Manchester (p.11)
- extend the Right to Buy to housing association tenants, and deliver 200,000 Starter Homes for first time buyers (p.11)
- restrict tax relief to ensure all individual landlords get the same level of tax relief for their finance costs (p.11)
- devolve further powers to Greater Manchester and London, including consulting on Sunday trading (p.13)
- devolve further planning powers to the Mayors of Greater Manchester and London (p.13)
- work towards devolution deals with the Sheffield City Region, Liverpool City Region, and Leeds, West Yorkshire and partner authorities (p.13)
- put Transport for the North on a statutory footing and give it a budget, clear leadership and a focussed remit, including working to introduce Oyster-style integrated and smart ticketing across the North (p.13)
- ensure that rural areas can also contribute to, and benefit from, productivity growth (p.13)
- decide by the end of the year whether it agrees with (the Airport Commission) assessment and, if so, the best route for achieving planning consents and getting a new runway built. (p32)
- legislate to allow major infrastructure projects with an element of housing to apply through the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Regime (NSIP) (p46)
- tighten the planning performance regime, so that local authorities making 50% or fewer of decisions on time are at risk of designation (p46)
- legislate to extend the performance regime to minor applications, so that local authorities processing those applications too slowly are at risk of designation (p46)
- introduce a fast-track certificate process for establishing the principle of development for minor development proposals, and significantly tighten the ‘planning guarantee’ for minor applications (p46)
- repeat its successful target from the previous Parliament to reduce net regulation on housebuilders. (The government does not intend to proceed with the zero carbon Allowable Solutions carbon offsetting scheme, or the proposed 2016 increase in on-site energy efficiency standards, but will keep energy efficiency standards under review, recognising that existing measures to increase energy efficiency of new buildings should be allowed time to become established) (p46)
- introduce a dispute resolution mechanism for section 106 agreements, to speed up negotiations and allow housing starts to proceed more quickly (p46)
- The government will therefore legislate through the Enterprise Bill to extend the government’s target for cutting red tape to cover the activities of regulators (p61)
- the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs will launch a new ’10 Point Plan’ for rural productivity (p73)
