CIH response to revisions to brownfield regeneration requirements

Government has launched a consultation on strengthening planning policy for housing development on brownfield sites. The press release accompanying the consultation explains the government's intention to "turbo charge" building on the brownfield land. Amendments include proposals to national policy in the National Planning Policy Framework, and changes to the way the Housing Delivery Test operates in the 20 towns and cities subject to the urban uplift; including introducing a new presumption in favour of sustainable development on brownfield land in some circumstance.

Alongside the Brownfield consultation, the government also launched a consultation around permitted development rights including around changes which allows for the demolition of certain buildings and rebuild as homes.

Gavin Smart, CIH's chief executive, responded to the announcements, commenting:

"We agree urgent action is needed to tackle the housing crisis and boost supply.

"Brownfield regeneration and bringing existing buildings back into use has the potential to play an important role in meeting our national housing need. But while the number of new homes is important so is their quality and safety. The permitted development regime bypasses usual planning processes and in recent years has led to some incredibly poor-quality homes which should not have been built. Government promises that there will be protections to prevent this are encouraging, but the detail here will be very important if we are not to repeat these mistakes."

CIH will be responding to both the strengthening planning policy for brownfield development consultation and the changes to various permitted development rights consultation. We welcome member comments on both consultations to include in our response. Please email policyandpractice@cih.org with your comments.

Although both consultations came out on 13 February they have different closing dates - with the brownfield consultation closing on 26 March and the permitted development rights consultation ending two weeks later, on 9 April. Please be mindful of these dates when sending over your comments for inclusion with our responses. 

You can read more on this topic in this CIH blog by Hannah Keilloh.