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Policy & Legislation
Policy, legislation and guidance produced by the government or its designated bodies. Use adopted sections if you wish to see only policy or legislation in force or emerging sections if you are looking for consultation documents where central government is inviting opinion prior to the implementation of policy or legislation.
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Adopted Policy & Guidance
Here you will find the most recently published government policy and guidance. These are all documents that have been adopted upon publication.
Adopted Legislation
Locate adopted legislation including Acts of Parliament and Statutory Instruments/Rules.
Consultations & Emerging Policy
Latest consultations and reports on government policy and guidance.
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National Policy Statement for water supply and treatment infrastructure consultation
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Draft Planning Practice Guidance on Viability
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Consultation on developing a National Policy Statement for Water Resources - Summary of responses
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Powers for dealing with unauthorised development and encampments
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Airports National Policy Statement - Third Report of Session 2017-19
Legislation In Progress
Track the progress of legislation through the Westminster and Scottish Parliaments as well as the Welsh and Northern Ireland Assemblies.
Fresh thinking on the DCP blog
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Changed circumstances
In dealing with an enforcement appeal concerning the use of land in Hertfordshire as a wedding venue (DCS Number 200-007-514 ) an inspector has pointed out the potentially significant... -
Not going to happen
A replacement dwelling in the green belt in Hertfordshire has been rejected at appeal, an inspector declining to take unexpended permitted development rights into account to justify... -
Golf balls
Taken from a recent appeal decision concerning the retention of a safety net at a golf club in north Wales (DCS Number 400-018-518 ): “Playing golf often results in a ball being projected...
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Policy & Legislation News
Labour pledges to close 'viability loophole' and new land value capture measures
A Labour government would 'remove the viability loophole which allows developers to dodge affordable housing obligations' and establish an 'English Sovereign Land Trust' to work with councils to buy land 'at a price closer to existing use value', according to its new housing green paper published today.
Government publishes analysis to back up Raab's immigration comments
The government has published research used by housing minister Dominic Raab to support a claim that immigration has driven up house prices significantly over the past 25 years, but the document warns that its contents should be 'treated cautiously'.
Key Topics
Guidance and legislation documents, news and in-depth coverage of key policy areas.
Briefing Notes
Parliamentary briefing documents on adopted and emerging policy/legislation
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Implementation of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 - Briefing paper
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Housing and Planning Bill: Report on Committee Stage
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Solar Farms: Funding, planning and impacts
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Nationally significant infrastructure projects and housing: briefing note
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Housing and Planning Bill briefing paper published
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Planning for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects: Briefing Paper
Policy & Legislation In Depth
Policy Summary: Government revises criteria for water projects under major infrastructure regime
Policy: National Policy Statement for Water Resources: Infrastructure Types and Sizes.
Policy Briefing: How planners and applicants can assess impact on health
Health impact assessment is coming to the fore as a tool for improving urban quality, Amber Morley and Richard Laming conclude.
Policy Summary: Draft Planning Practice Guidance on Viability
The government has published guidance providing further details on viability assessments following last year's proposals to speed up the process by dropping the need for an assessment under certain circumstances.
Government guidance bids to end time-consuming debates in planning, by Richard Garlick
It is essential that the planning system allows the merits of a particular use of a piece of land to be debated. But it must also bring some structure to those exchanges, so that decisions can be made in a reasonably timely and efficient way.
Why housing supply statement route may have a short shelf life
Not all experts are convinced that setting councils' land supply position for a fixed period will reduce scope for argument.
How standard method aims to cut need argument
Concerns that the government's standard method for calculating councils' objectively assessed housing need would be watered down have proved unfounded.
How framework revisions will affect green belt safeguarding
Government proposals to amend the rules governing release of green belt land are billed as strengthening protection for these areas, but some in the sector suspect that the revisions may have the opposite effect.
Housebuilders are Letwin's prime suspects for slow build-out rates, by Richard Garlick
The most important factor restricting the rate at which planning permissions on large sites are built out is housebuilders' unwillingness to release so many homes into a local market at the same time that the prices would drop.
