Get Britain Building! Boyer's reaction to the King's Speech

The recent announcements of the Planning and Infrastructure and the English Devolution Bills in the King's Speech this morning build on the Government’s pledge to get Britian building as one of the main drivers for economic growth.

While the content of the bills is broad and lacking in detail, it is expected that much of the promised planning reform will come through a revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). The advantage of Government policy over legislation is its quick implementation, with the revised NPPF expected to be in place by Autumn this year. The reforms in the NPPF are likely to include specifics on mandatory housing targets, a review of the Green Belt, and the role of local authorities and combined authorities in planning and delivering housing.

While today’s bills make no mention of these more topical planning announcements they do include opportunities to overhaul the running of local planning authorities and planning committees. For example, one of the key elements of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill is the modernisation of planning committees and the increase in capacity of local planning authorities to deliver and improve services. While the details of what this would include or how it will be implemented are still unclear, the promise of investing in more local authority planners to speed up the planning process and decision-making is a positive step towards addressing the current challenges in the system.

The reforms in the bill also aim to simplify the consenting process for major infrastructure projects and reform compulsory purchase compensation rules to ensure fair but not excessive compensation for landowners. The Government expects that these changes will unlock more sites for development, accelerate housebuilding, and delivering more affordable housing. In the past, the development industry has criticised the lack of effectiveness of current CPO powers, given the costly and complex process which local authorities are required to follow in their implementation. Such reform will need to address this issue, particularly if more use is to be made of previously developed sites – many of which are in fragmented ownerships, requiring the use of CPOs and inevitable delays to development.

The English Devolution Bill, on the other hand, aims to give local leaders greater powers over strategic planning, local transport networks, skills, and employment support. This standardised devolution framework promises to enable local leaders to drive growth, create jobs, and improve living standards in their areas. The bill also introduces new powers and duties for local leaders to produce Local Growth Plans and simplifies the process of creating combined authorities.

The increased focus on devolution to metro mayors and combined authorities is seen as a positive step towards a return to much needed sub-regional planning. This will allow for the strategic planning of housing and infrastructure needs across entire housing market areas, rather than planning on a much narrower local authority basis.

As always, the effectiveness of this approach will be reliant on the willingness of local authorities to put local politics aside and work collaboratively with combined authorities to deliver housing growth. 

Overall, the focus on accelerating housebuilding, improving infrastructure, and giving greater powers to local leaders is supported and is crucial for driving economic growth and building much needed homes. While more details and clarification are needed on the implementation of these bills and their relationship with the NPPF, we are hopeful that they will pave the way for a more efficient and effective planning system that meets the housing needs of the country.”