Welcome to our April issue of Planning Ahead. We trust you had an enjoyable Easter break. This is our pre-election edition. This year, for the first time, we have uploaded a list of all the councils up for election in our operating area: London, the Home Counties, East Anglia, and …

Our Michael Hardware, director of planning and property, will be speaking at two conferences in his councillor role as cabinet member for regeneration and strategic growth at Harlow District Council. The first is Housing supply and development in England being organised by the Westminster Social Policy Forum on 26th May. …

As well as the recent Select Committee hearing, there have been other housing updates. First, social housing is gaining more traction in Westminster and the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Committees (DLUHC) has responded to this. Secondly, DLUHC has indicated that councils will be allowed to keep 100% of their …

The Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Select Committee had its first oral evidence hearing into the Government’s planning reforms on 16 March. A recent consultation took place that sought to tighten the regulations surrounding greenbelt land, re-evaluate the housing number targets and push for greater use of brownfield land. The …

We are now entering the ‘purdah’ stage of the upcoming election; a time when pre-election communication rules come into place to prevent local authorities from publishing information which could influence voters. After a turbulent summer and autumn last year, many are viewing this May’s elections as a stern test for …

  Welcome to our March newsletter, marking hopefully the start of spring. In this issue we look at: the new Housing Minister, Rachel Maclean, and peoples reactions to this; the Westminster debate on updating green belt regulation; the Conservative Councillors Association Local Government Conference and their special guests.  We have …

The provisions in the Levelling Up Bill and the NPPF consultation, which concluded last week, have led to many councils having second thoughts about their local plans. More than 13 councils have abandoned, paused or delayed work on their local plans and 2021 saw the lowest number of local plans …

In modern politics, there are few occasions for consensus. But tightening regulation around the development of green land – and more specifically prioritising the development of brownfield sites – has garnered nonpartisan approval. At a parliamentary debate held on February 9 MPs from across the political spectrum came together to …