“Thanks to our planning system, we have nowhere near enough homes in the right places”.  Whether or not Boris Johnson is right to place all the blame on the planning system is not the subject of this article (although, if you are interested, I’d say he is wrong).  Government has launched a consultation into the planning system, Planning for the Future White Paper, proposing bold changes in many areas.  It is very difficult to disagree with the aim of creating a system to facilitate “homes we need in places we want to live at prices we can afford”. 

The document is lengthy and covers many areas of planning.  Some issues are straightforward, others, particularly the tricky proposal to create a new levy to include affordable housing, remain unclear.

Local plans are to be far more focussed and therefore succinct.  They should be produced within 30 months, contain rules rather than policies and plan for development through the identification of Growth Areas, Renewal Areas and Protected Areas. 

Growth areas will grant outline approval for substantial development, to be defined.  The Renewal Areas are for development, areas suitable for infill and densification or small-scale expansion of places.  Land in Renewal Areas is to benefit from a presumption in favour of development for specified uses.  Protected Areas, such as green spaces, AONB and conservation areas justify more stringent development controls.  Local Plans, focussed on designation, are to leave development management policy to the National Planning Policy Framework as much as possible. 

Even with a tighter remit, production of Local Plans within 30 months is challenging.  The White Paper states that the current average time to adopt a Local Plan is 7 years.  Public consultation is to remain important, with a phased process for engagement set out.

The consultation rightly places importance on the quality of development, with the idea that beautiful development benefits from a fast track planning process.  Local Authorities will need to produce design codes or masterplans to site alongside the designations, giving certainty over development that would be acceptable.

Interestingly the consultation proposes a new standard method for producing housing requirement figures (the details are the subject of a separate consultation “Changes to the Current Planning System”).  This disperses 300,000 new homes annually around the country, controversially reverting to a “top-down” approach heavily criticised by the Conservatives, to put it mildly.

These are just some of the extensive changes discussed in the Planning for the Future paper.  Anyone keen to influence the future of the planning system has an opportunity to have their say until 29 October 2020.