Are we still ‘planning for the future’?

Since Planning for the Future was published in 2020 promising “radical reform unlike anything we have seen since the Second World War”,  planning reform and particularly, planning for housing, has hit the headlines a number of times. All the while, the merry-go-round of ministers responsible for the housing and planning briefs has revolved at a dizzying speed.  

Controversial, contested and often used as a political football, with U-turns and pauses a plenty, there has been a stop-start progression since Michael Gove MP became the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities in 2021 (putting aside of course the three months period when he wasn’t!). But, what progress has been made in terms of planning reform? 

This year I have found myself penning several chunky responses to national consultations on planning. It began with the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill: Reforms to national planning policy. In CIH's response, we expressed our concerns that many of the proposed immediate amendments to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) could actually undermine the delivery of homes (including importantly much needed social rented homes).

We argued that the cumulative effect of the proposals (including the removal of the requirement for local authorities to demonstrate a five-year housing land supply, not reviewing green belt boundaries, and the 20 urban uplift areas being left to do all ‘heavy lifting’ in terms of housing delivery) could be used as a justification to not provide adequate housing to meet need or to exclude certain types of housing (including, for example, housing for homeless households).

However, on a more positive note, we welcomed in the consultation that the supply of social rented homes and specialist older housing were identified as areas of important future policy. 

Then came the technical consultation on the Infrastructure Levy designed to replace Section 106 (s106). Rather than spending the rest of this article explaining the Levy proposals you can check out our what you need to know guide on the topic.  Definitely one of the most complicated consultation documents I have been charged with reading and understanding, it was hard to feel optimistic that the Levy would meet its stated purpose and create a clearer, more efficient and more transparent system.

It is an imperfect system full of frustrations around negotiations and delays, but the existing s106 regime currently plays a critical role in the delivery of new affordable and social housing (at the moment currently accounting for almost half of all affordable homes delivered annually).

Given the housing emergency we face, with a chronic undersupply of the desperately needed social rented homes, we all have ‘skin in the game’ when it comes to the replacement of the current largest mechanism for social housing delivery.

You can read our consultation response here (spoiler alert, we have serious reservations!) with our primary concern that the Levy could lead to a reduction in the delivery of much needed truly affordable homes, particularly social rented homes.

The proposals could also have implications for the onsite delivery of affordable homes and therefore the creation of mixed communities. Proposals around the use of Levy receipts to fund needs unconnected to the development risks the funding for affordable housing and infrastructure being used to finance other priorities and ‘plug gaps’ in much stretched local authority budgets. The Levy in its current form also seems unlikely to support the government’s own ambitions to ‘level up’ the country, and this could be particularly pronounced in locations with low land values, where affordable and social housing need can be acute and the need to ‘level up’ therefore greatest.

We aren’t alone in our concerns around the Levy, and as the consultation response deadline drew to a close at the start of the month we co-signed a letter to the Secretary of State along with a wide range of organisations including councils, housebuilders, housing associations, charities and planners, warning the proposals could see a reduction in affordable homes delivered and less money for vital infrastructure.

What’s LURB got to do with it?

At the same time as these consultations, the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill (LURB) has been continuing to rumble through parliament since its first reading in the House of Commons in May 2022. You may well ask what’s LURB got to do with it? (You probably didn’t, but I liked ‘what’s LURB got to do with it?’ so much, I have been trying to shoehorn it in where I can!). Essentially LURB is the ‘scaffolding’ for planning reform. The Bill is huge in scope and covers a very wide variety of areas.  Indeed, it was described by Baroness Hayman of Ullock, Labour’s spokesperson for levelling up in the Lords as “a strange mish-mash of a bill… a Christmas tree bill, one that anybody can hang anything on.” 

Its progress has been slow and it now sits at report stage in the House of Lords after the debate of over 500 amendments at committee stage. One amendment well worth a mention here is the government’s own amendment 412D which is intended to ensure that a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) 'hope value' will not accrue to land where it is to be used for the purpose of affordable housing, health, or education. Shelter have long been campaigning for hope value changes and this feels like a really positive step towards this.

CIH provided oral and written evidence for the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill Committee, and continue to monitor and influence the Bill where we can along with others in the sector and our membership of the Better Planning Coalition. What will happen next with planning reform, the Levy and LURB remains to be seen, but if levelling up is to spread opportunity ‘more equally’ across the UK then a planning system that puts the delivery of quality, genuinely affordable housing at its heart is crucial. For everyone affected by the housing emergency, levelling up starts with home, as home is the foundation for a decent life, and CIH will continue to make this case strongly and loudly.

For CIH members interested in knowing more about planning reform you can join the CIH planning for housing network.  The network meets to discuss current planning matters and proposed policy changes and has been instrumental in informing our consultation response submissions.