New planning powers come into effect today giving local councils
greater tools to hold rogue developers to account as part of the
Government's landmark Levelling-up and Regeneration Act.
Council planners can use stronger enforcement measures to take on
landowners who repeatedly break planning rules. This includes
those who carry out works without approval or act in bad faith on
developments with planning consent.
These changes will make it harder for rulebreakers to seek future
planning permission and will give councils the ability to issue
unlimited fines against those failing to build in the right
places.
The wide-ranging measures include:
- Increasing enforcement limits from four to 10 years so
councils have more time to stop developments without planning
approval.
- Introducing unlimited fines against developers who fail to
comply with planning permission or refusing to deal with rundown
properties and overgrown fields.
- Doubling the length of temporary stop notices to 56 days to
suspend all works if a council suspects building has gone ahead
despite permission has not been granted.
- Strengthening the Planning Inspectorate to dismiss appeals
against developers trying to delay the process, including the
refusal of site visits and access.
Councils have welcomed these new measures, placing power back
into the hands of local people and speeding up the planning
system, so developers can get fully behind the Government's
long-term plan for housing to regenerate and level up communities
across the country.
Minister for Housing and Planning, said:
“Today marks another important step forward in our mission to
deliver a faster and less bureaucratic planning system, making
sure councils have greater powers at their disposal to take
robust action against developers who do not play by the rules.
“We are clamping down on planning loopholes, allowing councils to
issue unlimited fines, and strengthening local decisions that
communities want to see. This builds on our long-term plan for
housing to deliver more homes and infrastructure that is
beautiful, affordable, and built in the right places.”
These immediate powers will work alongside wider measures
introduced through the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act that
requires developers to help deliver vital infrastructure,
including schools and doctor surgeries, which will put an end to
lifeless edge-of-town developments.
The Act also brings forward new laws to encourage developers to
get on with building more homes, providing regular updates on
progress and giving councils the chance to consider slow
build-out rates when granting planning approval.
Through the revised National Planning Policy Framework published
last year, councils now have clears incentives to have local
plans in place, which is the best way to support developers going
forward in delivering new homes in places that local communities
want.
More widely, the Government has injected a much-needed cash boost
to councils with an extra £29 million that will tackle backlogs
and upskill the sector. This is alongside councils increasing
planning fees for applications, providing them with an estimated
£65 million to help speed up day-to-day decisions.
The Levelling-up and Regeneration Act remains at the heart of the
Government's long-term plan for housing that is modernising the
planning system, reducing delays, and giving councils more powers
to clamp down on rule breaking developers.
Further information
- Updated guidance on council enforcement powers can be found
here.
