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 …

Chelgate has appointed sector specialist and senior counsel Julian Seymour to lead its property communications and stakeholder engagement division, Chelgate Local. With a team of specialists in community, political and stakeholder engagement, Chelgate Local is one of the foremost agencies working in the property communications sector. As one of the …

“It’s time to get building” Sajid Javid, Communities Secretary, speaking at the Conservative Conference last week, has confirmed that a Housing White Paper will be published by the end of the year. It will include significant new measures to speed up the supply of new housing.  He also reiterated the government’s …

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (RBWM) Borough Local Plan will be delayed following a decision by Cabinet last Thursday (Sept 30). The decision to carry out further works on the Plan and then return to a Regulation 18 consultation will mean the final submission to the Inspectorate be …

Papers for the Epping Forrest DC Cabinet Meeting next week (October 6) have been published online. You can view the agenda and papers here. The meeting will discuss the draft Local Plan and approve it to go to Full Council on October 18 for approval to be published for Regulation …