UK: Secretary of state Michael Gove has announced plans to speed up brownfield housebuilding and relax restrictions around commercial-to-residential conversions.
The move comes on the back of Biodiversity Net Gain rules being enshrined in law as part of the Town & Country Planning Act, with all new schemes in England now having to achieve a 10 per cent gain.
Looking to boost brownfield development over Green Belt incursions, the government said today that every council in England must prioritise brownfield developments and will be “instructed to be less bureaucratic and more flexible in applying policies that halt housebuilding on brownfield land”.
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities said that the bar for refusing brownfield plans “will also be made much higher for those big city councils who are failing to hit their locally agreed housebuilding targets”.
DLUHC said that planning authorities in England’s 20 largest cities and towns will be made to follow a “brownfield presumption” should housebuilding drop below expected levels.
This is a rollout of the London Plan commissioned by Gove last year, and will “put rocket boosters under brownfield regeneration projects across the country” according to DLUHC.
A consultation on the proposals has been launched today and will run until 26 March. The government said that it will look to implement changes to national planning policy as soon as possible.
Legislation introduced in Parliament will extend current permitted development rights, so that commercial buildings of any size can be converted into residential, easing the ability of developers to convert shops, offices and other buildings into residential without scrutiny.
Gove said: “Today marks another important step forward in our Long-Term Plan for Housing, taking a brownfield first approach to deliver thousands of new homes where people want to live and work, without concreting over the countryside. Our new brownfield presumption will tackle under delivery in our key towns and cities – where new homes are most needed to support jobs and drive growth.”
He also said that section 21 “no-fault” evictions will be made illegal this year.
