Levelling-up the planning system and regenerating town centres
Sponsored feature | Brendon Lee, senior associate, HCR Hewitsons
The Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 recently came into law. This is a landmark piece of legislation which the government believes will speed up the planning system, hold developers to account, cut bureaucracy, and encourage more councils to put plans in place to enable the building of new homes.
A key objective of the government, enshrined within the planning provisions of the Act, is to ensure new homes are built where they are needed in urban areas, rather than concreting over the countryside. This will additionally enhance and protect the national network of beautiful, nature-rich protected landscapes that can be enjoyed across the country.
As part of the focus for new homes in urban areas, new powers are provided to councils to help them transform town centres such as enabling them to work directly with landlords to bring empty buildings back into use by local businesses and community groups. Councils will also have the power to increase council tax on empty homes to encourage such properties to be occupied. The temporary relaxation of rules on outdoor seating for cafés, pubs and restaurants during the pandemic is also made permanent to help local businesses to thrive.
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For developers there are provisions to encourage them to get building with obligations to provide updates on the progress of development and give councils the chance to consider slow build-out rates when approving planning.
It also aims to speed up delivery of housing by cutting burdensome, environmental EU red tape for developers by introducing new tailored environmental assessments to better reflect the current pressures on the environment and meet the nation’s environmental priorities.
The government has so far invested £12.9bn in levelling up projects across the UK. Over the summer an additional £37.5m was invested for councils to bolster staffing, including a new £24m to tackle backlogs which are a major obstacle to the timely delivery of new housing and regeneration in many areas. It is considered that the Act will complement such investments and the regeneration of areas that are left behind.
There is no doubt that the new provisions in the Act will shake up the planning system and give greater powers to councils. However, time will tell if it will be successful in achieving the levelling-up and town centre regeneration across the country that the government believes it will deliver.
For more information, contact Brendon Lee, senior associate in the planning, highways and environment team, on 01223 532757, 07467 719066 or at blee@hcrlaw.com.
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