The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has announced that, today, the next step of the Levelling Up and Regeneration will be set out, putting local communities at the forefront of planning.
The move will aim to ensure that local authorities are able to build the right number of the right style of homes in the right places, alongside appropriate infrastructure. This will not only give local people the right to have a voice in where new developments are placed, but will also help to protect the environment.
Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, said:
“We have an urgent need in this country to build more homes so that everyone – whether they aspire to home ownership or not – can have a high-quality, affordable place to live. But our planning system is not working as it should.
“If we are to deliver the new homes this country needs, new development must have the support of local communities. That requires people to know it will be beautiful, accompanied by the right infrastructure, approved democratically, that it will enhance the environment and create proper neighbourhoods.
“These principles have always been key to our reforms and we are now going further by strengthening our commitment to build the right homes in the right places and put local people at the heart of decision-making.
“I’m grateful to colleagues across the House for their hard work and support to drive forward these much-needed changes to create a planning system that works for all.”
The Levelling Up Secretary, in response to requests from MPs, has also asked the Competition and Markets Authority to do a market study on housebuilding, with the aim of ensuring that the market is truly competitive and benefitting consumers. This is increasingly important through the cost of living crisis, as purchasing a home is a considerable decision for a family to make.
These measures will be considered alongside ones that would allow councils to financially penalise companies that are not delivering housing, despite being given planning approval, and a promise from the government that developments will not harm valued landscapes such as National Parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the Green Belt.
