Planning and Housing

Enfield council submits application for 2,300 homes in London

08.08.19: As part of its next phase of the £6bn Meridian Water scheme in north London, Enfield council have submitted plans for 2,300 new homes on the site. The application is the largest ever submitted to the local authority, and has been...

Thousands of new council homes part of 2040 Wales vision

08.08.19: A development vision for Wales by 2040 has outlined more urban living, and earmarked the building of thousands of new council homes. As part of the vision, a new planning framework – the National Development Framework – is...

West Lothian Council appoints new head of housing

06.08.19: West Lothian Council have appointed Ann Marie Carr to serve as their new head of housing, customer and building services. Ms Carr has been serving in the role on an interim basis since December 2018, but is now set to take over the pos...

Kensington and Chelsea Council announce £57m for estate

26.07.19: Kensington and Chelsea Council are set to invest £57m to transform Lancaster West Estate in west London. According to a report to the council, the project will deliver “a model 21st century social housing estate”. Bui...

Brokenshire reveals new measures to stamp out ‘poor doors’ segregation

23.07.19: The government has pledged to ban “poor doors” to help end the segregation of social housing residents in mixed-housing developments in future builds. Communities secretary James Brokenshire announced the measures to “tack...

County council approves £153m link road amid climate change protests

16.07.19: Norwich county councillors have formally approved a new link road for the Norwich bypass, despite the environmental group Extinction Rebellion staging protests on the steps of the County Hall. The council’s cabinet committee backed a...

Extra £28m announced to alleviate pressures on councils through Controlling Migration Fund

15.07.19: Councils across England are set to receive a further £28m to help ease pressures on local services following increased migration, from alleviating rough sleeping and community integration to targeting rogue landlords. The funding boos...

Commission calls for transforming retail parks into communities

09.07.19: Town halls should encourage the redevelopment of retail parks and large supermarkets into communities that include homes, shops and businesses, a wide-ranging report for the government has found. The Building Better, Building Beautiful Comm...

Government unveils £675m Future High Streets Fund shortlist

09.07.19: The government has revealed the winners of the first phase of a multi-million-pound fund to transform local high streets, with 51 areas of the country through to the second phase. The £675m Future High Streets Fund, launched at the en...

District councils making ‘great strides’ in building houses post-borrowing cap

03.07.19: District councils are now building and planning homes at a “considerable pace” as a direct result of the borrowing cap being lifted, a new report has revealed. A survey, commissioned by the District Councils’ Network (DCN)...

‘Exploitative’ sale of new-build houses as leaseholds outlawed by government

01.07.19: New-build houses will now be sold on a freehold basis, the government has announced, effectively outlawing the “unscrupulous practice of unnecessary leaseholds.” All future homeowners will benefit in a “bold move to tackle...

Norfolk County Council unveils six-year masterplan

01.07.19: Norfolk County Council has launched it’s new, six-year plan for the region which will aim to boost the local economy, transform education services and protect the environment. The ‘Together, For Norfolk’ vision includes a...

RTPI calls on government to let councils rise planning fees

28.06.19: Proposals by the Government for new approaches to meeting the costs of the planning service where this improves performance have been welcomed by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI). Speaking yesterday at the annual conference of the C...

Ministry of Defence risking costly loss of vital skills over poor housing

28.06.19: The Ministry of Defence has missed its targets over military housing and acknowledges there now exists a real risk of losing experienced and skilled personnel over sub-standard housing. According to the June 2019 House of Commons report, th...

Welsh government raises £226m from new land tax

28.06.19: The Welsh government have raised £226m from a new ‘land transaction tax’ to replace stamp duty. The new tax was introduced in April 2018 as allowed by a new devolution package giving Wales control of parts of their tax cod...