Information Links


News & Analysis
The latest UK town planning news, including development management, housing, retail & town centres, development plans, key appeal decisions, NPPF and changes to the planning system.
Take a look at our new email news bulletins.
Page Title RSS feedLatest News

Pincher welcomes think tank report calling for permissions to include delivery contracts to boost housebuilding
Planning permissions should include a legally-binding "delivery contract" setting out "an agreed contractual trajectory of housing delivery" with penalties for developers and councils that breach them, according to a think tank report that has been welcomed by the housing minister.

Emerging plan's 3,500-home allocation next to rewilding project 'would stop nature in its tracks', conservation figures tell Jenrick
More than 30 senior conservation figures have criticised the government's planning policies for having "not caught up" with its wider pledges to protect and enhance the natural world and have highlighted an emerging local plan's 3,500-home site allocation next to one of England's most high-profile rewilding sites.

High Court quashes council's CIL notice served two-and-a-half years late for human rights violation
The High Court has found that a community infrastructure levy (CIL) charge served two-and-a-half years late on, and mis-addressed to, a Hertfordshire resident redeveloping a neighbouring property amounted to a violation of her human rights and has ordered the council to repay her the £16,000 charge.
-
Council 'will no longer request affordable housing from city centre flats'
-
Kwarteng delays 1.8GW wind farm decision following court's quashing of sister project
-
Join our free webinar on the future of town centres today
-
Council's housing scheme consent quashed following parish's legal challenge
-
Survey finds London skyscraper permissions rose to highest-ever level last year
-
The three councils that inspectors allowed to freeze their housing land supply targets, and the one that they turned down
-
'Plans for Bristol city centre revolving viewing platform approved against officer advice'
-
51-storey Birmingham resi tower approved for second time following planning blunder
- Team Leader - Plan Making and Infrastructure – Spatial Planning Ashford Borough Council Ashford, Kent
- Registration Team Leader South Oxfordshire District Council & Vale of White Horse District Council Didcot, Oxfordshire
- Senior Planner Whaleback Hove, East Sussex
- Associate Director DLBP Ltd London
- Senior Associate / Associate / Senior Planners David Lock Associates Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
- Planning Policy Monitoring Officer Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire
- Senior Planner – Development Management Medway Council Medway Council, Gun Wharf, Dock Road, Chatham, Kent ME4 4TR
- Specialist Advisor – Conservation Lewes District and Eastbourne Borough Councils Eastbourne & Lewes
- Associate Town Planner Carrington West York
- Associate Planner / Director with Energy Sector experience (UK wide) Pegasus Group. Bristol, Cirencester and Leeds
Latest Features & Analysis

The implications of the government's plan to introduce discounted homes for first-time buyers via unallocated sites
The government has announced its intention to introduce a new form of affordable housing for first-time buyers via exception sites that are not allocated by councils in local plans. Commentators warn that the new policy could raise challenges for local authorities and may impact on provision of other forms of affordable housing on such sites, but there are mixed views about the likely level of developer interest.

Neighbourhood Watch: Locality urges continued use of offline consultation methods
Neighbourhood planning groups and other community organisations should ensure they use a mix of online and offline methods when conducting consultation exercises, according to guidance from Locality.

How changes to the government's new commercial-to-residential permitted development right are likely to affect its impact
The government has introduced a number of restrictions to the final version of its controversial new commercial-to-residential permitted development right, including a size limit. While local authorities question whether the concessions would significantly reduce the potential harms caused by the new right, some consultants and lawyers suggest the changes could curtail developer interest.

The lessons for planning teams of the government's Liverpool City Council probe
A report into alleged failings at Liverpool City Council found undue pressure being placed on planning officers and a failure of enforcement to tackle unlawful development. According to some observers, the episode highlights the potential risks of planners and property officers working in the same directorate.
Latest Comment
How planning is frustrating the drive to quadruple offshore wind power capacity by 2030, by Angus Walker
Years of delays to major offshore wind projects suggest that the planning system is not playing its part in achieving the government's aim of quadrupling capacity by 2030.
Letter: Recent approval is a prime example of the type of unsustainable development we must reject
The recent approval of plans for a 1,100-home greenfield urban extension to Preston, despite the site being identified as open countryside in the council's adopted local plan, represents the opposite of what the planning system is meant to achieve.
Letter: Recent approval is a prime example of the type of unsustainable development we must reject
The recent approval of plans for a 1,100-home greenfield urban extension to Preston, despite the site being identified as open countryside in the council's adopted local plan, represents the opposite of what the planning system is meant to achieve.
Letter: Government u-turn on raising the affordable housing exemption threshold is very welcome
The government’s recent announcement that it will not be raising the affordable housing exemption threshold from 10 to 50 units is great news for housing associations.
A year on: How Covid has changed planning forever, by Catriona Riddell
As we pass the one year mark from our first Covid lockdown, many will be reflecting on the changes this exceptional year has brought to the world, including the way we plan places.
Why developers are worried about the new London Plan policy on tall buildings, by Joey Gardiner
Last week, controversial plans to replace the “brutalist” Kensington Forum hotel in west London with two new towers were unexpectedly withdrawn just prior to their consideration in a planning inquiry, despite receiving the backing of the mayor last autumn.
Latest CIL Watch
Policy News & Updates
-
Reforms to the compulsory purchase process - Wales
-
Strategic Development Plan (Wales) Regulations 2021
-
Scottish Circular 1/2012 - Householder permitted development rights: guidance - updated 2021
-
General Permitted Development (England) (Amendment) (Coronavirus) Order 2021
-
Inspector blocks Leicester chippy PD conversion, saying 8 sqm flats 'too small' to be considered housing