New homes, more clean energy, and greater water security will be within reach for hundreds of thousands of working people and families, as part of a new growth package, the government has announced.
The package will look at supporting the full potential of the landmark Planning and Infrastructure Bill – a key driver for growth to slash planning delays currently shackling the UK economy.
If voted through, ministers will get new powers to prevent applications being rejected by local councils while they consider using ‘call-in’ powers to decide whether or not they should be approved.
Currently, some councils are dragging their feet to get on and build, with nearly 900 major housing schemes blocked in the past year alone, the government said.
New proposed measures would greenlight reservoirs faster, pumping fresh water into the taps of people’s homes, and unlocking new opportunities for housebuilding after more than 30 years without a new reservoir in the UK.
Pro-growth changes will pave the way for cleaner energy, including onshore windfarms, to drive millions of pounds of investment into local areas, prevent bill hikes and create thousands of new jobs.
Allowing Natural England to streamline its role by freeing it up to make sensible choices on when to provide advice to local authorities will free up valuable resources. This will enable the organisation to focus on higher priority planning applications and nature recovery, helping to accelerate approvals for new homes and infrastructure.
Under government plans, builders will also receive a helping hand to stop planning permissions from being timed out on vital housing projects tied up in the courts, accelerating and unlocking stalled schemes so money can be better spent on getting spades in the ground rather than starting back at square one.
If passed, each of these pro-growth changes will accelerate the government’s Plan for Change to build 1.5 million homes, achieve clean power by 2030, raise living standards in every corner of the country, and put more money back into working people’s pockets.
“Britain’s potential has been shackled by governments unwilling to overhaul the stubborn planning system that has erected barriers to building at every turn. It is simply not true that nature has to lose for economic growth to succeed,” said Housing Secretary Steve Reed.
“Sluggish planning has real-world consequences. Every new house blocked deprives a family of a home. Every infrastructure project that gets delayed blocks someone from a much-needed job. This will now end.
“The changes we are making today will strengthen the seismic shift already underway through our landmark Bill. We will ‘Build, baby, build’ with 1.5 million new homes and communities that working people desperately want and need.”
Leave a Reply