In a period of huge political uncertainty with Brexit, Trump and other world leaders including Putin jostling for stronger positions, Prime Minister Theresa May has thrown her hat into the ring by calling a UK General Election. If she manages to get her surprise snap poll, announced in Downing Street …

Planned and deliver Lichfields published its fifth annual review of local plans last week, five years since the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) came into existence. The report makes for some very interesting reading, revealing the struggle many local authorities are currently in to bring forward their local plans. Some …

Gavin Barwell has finally admitted that the Government won’t enforce the early 2017 deadline for Local Plans. Barwell’s admission, made in an interview at MIPIM, has been hotly tipped as the deadline looms and many Tory authorities seemed to be at threat. Speaking yesterday, he said, the government needed to …

Housing White Paper Almost a month on from the Housing White Paper and opinions still differ as to whether it will have any impact on the planning system, or indeed how many of the provisions will actually be taken forward into legislation. Speaking on February 20 at the Campaign to …

Make no mistake, a shift in focus from home ownership to affordable renting is a hugely significant shift in Conservative party policy. Even the title of the Housing White Paper, ‘Fixing Our Broken Housing Market’ is an admission from the government that more needs to be done to tackle the …

Challenge to Planning Minister A group of housebuilders have lodged an application for a Judicial Review to challenge the Planning Minister over his attempt to reinforce neighbourhood planning. Gavin Barwell announced changes to planning policy on December 12 via a Written Ministerial Statement (WMS). He explained that currently, if a …

  Developers invited to take action St. Albans has been advised that it has not fulfilled its duty to cooperate. David Hogger, the Planning Inspector reviewing the Strategic Local Plan (SLP), wrote to the council giving it two options: to receive a report from the inspector recommending non-adoption; or to …

Councils pay out £12 million in lost planning appeals Planning appeals have led to some local authorities losing a significant amount of their budget. This is impacting upon wider service delivery, and ultimately has become a barrier to housing delivery. Property consultancy, Daniel Watney LLP, sent out FOI requests to …