The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) intervened in the Spelthorne local plan in late September. The housing minister, Rachel Maclean, sent a letter to the council blocking the authority from rescinding its emerging plan from examination. This …

Michael Hardware spoke at the Garden Communities and New Towns Conference held in October in Kensington Town Hall, London, organised by the UK Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum (UKREiiF). Speakers relayed progress on the many new garden communities coming …

The Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, first published in May 2022, has received royal assent after over a year of parliamentary debate. The Bill became an Act on 26 October, after being debated and revised by both parliamentary houses. Changes …

The Conservative Party conference took place in Manchester in October. Housing and planning policy, in the words of housing minister Rachel Maclean, was approached as a “critical” issue, with discussions and speeches stretching from the use of greenfield by the …

Economy The October annual inflation rate was 6.7%, which was no change since September. It was expected to fall but held higher by increasing fuel prices. It is expected to fall in November and the Government is on track to …

The Labour Party Conference in Liverpool was heavy on housing and redevelopment with pledges of new homes and affordable costs repeated from speech to speech. “We are the builders,” was Leader Sir Keir Starmer’s declaration as he pledged 1.5 million …

Welcome to our June issue of Planning ahead. In this issue we have articles on the Labour Party’s housing and NPPF policy; people’s perception of building on green belt and the shift in views; and a summary of the Westminster Social Policy Forum …

Having chaired the first-morning session, Michael Hardware went on to present in the second session, introducing the Harlow & Gilston Garden Town, the unsung hero of the east of England. Michael is the cabinet member for economic development at Harlow …