The new Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng confirmed on 23rd September that the Government would "bring forward a new bill to unpick the complex patchwork of planning restrictions and EU derived laws that constrain our growth. We will streamline a whole host of assessments of appraisals of consultations, endless duplications and regulations."

A document entitled ‘The Growth Plan 2022’ which was published this week, details the ambitions of the Government which includes a range of planning measures including methods to increase the delivery of infrastructure projects and new “investments zones” A summary of the relevant points is provided below.

Increasing the delivery of infrastructure projects

The Growth Plan document identifies that the recent delivery of infrastructure projects has slowed down dramatically due to the planning process. The document confirms that the forthcoming Planning and Infrastructure Bill will “accelerate priority major infrastructure projects across England, by minimising the burden of environmental assessments; making consultation requirements more proportionate; reforming habitats and species regulation; and increasing flexibility to make changes to a development consent order once it has been submitted”. The Growth Plan document also identifies a number of infrastructure projects which the government aims to prioritise for acceleration as these are “projects which have particularly high potential to move to construction at an accelerated pace”. The projects range from individual road schemes, nuclear power plants, oil and gas projects, and “local growth” initiatives including the Levelling Up Home Building Fund.

With the aim of accelerating infrastructure delivery, these measures will help to “liberalise” the planning system with consultation and approval requirements being streamlined.

According to the Growth Plan, the government will also be “considering options for changing the judicial review system to avoid claims which cause unnecessary delays to delivery.”

Investment Zones.

The Growth Plan document refers to the creation of new investment zones which are areas that will “drive growth and unlock housing across the UK by lowering taxes and liberalising planning frameworks to encourage rapid development and business investment”.

With around 40 anticipated investment zones, the Growth Plan Document confirms that the zones will include “designated development sites to both release more land for housing and commercial development, and to support accelerated development. The need for planning applications will be minimised and, where planning applications remain necessary, they will be radically streamlined”. Within such zones, the following special interventions will apply:

• Lower taxes – time limited tax incentives such as relief from business rates in special cases, enhanced capital allowance and enhanced structure and buildings allowance, National Insurance contributions relief and relief with Stamp Duty Land Tax.
• Accelerated development – designated sites to deliver growth and housing. Work will take place to identify what measures are needed to unlock growth, including relieving sites of red tape where appropriate.
• Wider support for local growth – for example through greater control over local growth funding.

It is anticipated that areas within such zones could be subject to the easing of affordable housing requirements and environmental planning protections, however further confirmation is awaited regarding these issues.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities will shortly set out more detail on the planning offer. This will include detail on the level of deregulation and the streamlined mechanism for securing planning permission.

The Growth Plan Document confirms that the Government will deliver Investment Zones in partnership with local authorities. Areas will be responsible for putting forward sites and demonstrating their potential impact on economic growth, including bringing more land forward and accelerating development.

The Document says the zones will be chosen “following a rapid expression of interest process open to everyone, and after local consent is confirmed”. Areas that have expressed an interest are now involved in a fast-track bidding process to get government approval of their investment zone plans. Furthermore, a number of areas are identified within the document as potential Investment zones, and discussions are ongoing between the relevant local authorities and the Government to establish these zones.

New PM Liz Truss confirmed during her leadership campaign that investments zones would be ‘at the heart of my vision for levelling up’ adding that ‘we will work with local communities to identify sites ripe for transformation across the country through lower taxes, reduced planning restrictions and red tape’.

We at Ridge look forward to seeing the full details of the Government’s proposals for accelerating housing delivery, providing more homes in areas within which people want to live and work. Measures to unlock and ease the planning system are to be welcomed, however this must be supported by adequate financial resources.

For more information relating to this article please contact Anne Pawsey MRTPI: apawsey@ridge.co.uk