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 the south and east Midlands. This includes what elections are taking place, the current administration and the existing balance of power. It also includes some predictions. You can view these here. Other predictions will be uploaded in the coming weeks. If you would like to see more detailed predictions for any council, please contact us here.
Apart from the upcoming elections, other stories in this issue include a summary of the first hearing of the DLUHC Select Committee on the proposed NPPF reforms; an article looking at social housing reform and upcoming speaking platforms.
Enjoy!
DLUHC Select Committee The levelling up, Housing and Communities Select Committee held an oral evidence hearing into the governments planning reforms on the 16th 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. More details can be found here.
Local Elections 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 seeks to influence voters.More Details can be found here.
Speaking Platforms 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: Housing supply and development in England in May, and Garden Communities and New Towns Developments in October. More…
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 right to buy receipts for 2022-23 and 2023-24.More details can be found here.
