Jenrick’s planning reforms: the key changes at a glance

Planning reforms

• Introduce new permitted development rights for building upwards on existing buildings by summer 2020
• Consult on potential permitted development rights to allow vacant buildings to be demolished and replaced with new homes
• New support for community and self-build housing schemes, including support finding plots of land
• Support the Oxford-Cambridge arc by setting up a new spatial framework for the area, setting out where housing will be delivered up to 2050, and create four development corporations across the region

Housing Delivery Test

• Review the formula for calculating local housing need to encourage more building in urban areas
• Require all local authorities to have an up-to-date local plan by 2023 or government will intervene
• Continue with plans to raise the Housing Delivery Test threshold to 75% in November 2020
• Reform the New Homes Bonus to ensure local authorities that build more homes have access to greater funding

Planning departments

• Implement new planning fee structure to better resource planning authorities and link funding to improved performance
• Provide automatic rebates of fees when planning applications are successful at appeal
• Expand the use of zoning tools to support development that is aimed at simplifying the process of granting planning permission for residential and commercial property
• Make it clearer who owns land by requiring greater transparency on land options
• Support local authorities to use compulsory purchase orders by introducing statutory timescales for decisions and ending the automatic right to public inquiry

Homeownership

• Continue with the proposed First Homes scheme, which offers eligible first-time buyers new homes at prices discounted by a third
• Form partnerships with developers and local authorities to be the frontrunners for delivering the first wave of new homes

Design

• Revise National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) to encourage good design and placemaking throughout the planning process
• Respond to the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission and take forward recommendations calling for urban tree-planting and giving communities more influence over design
• Implement a new National Design Code to allow residents of communities to have more influence over design. Allow local areas to produce their own design codes for new development.

Climate and sustainability

• Review policy for building in areas at flood risk by assessing whether current NPPF protections are enough and whether further reform is needed
• Introduce Future Homes Standard in 2025, which will require up to 80% lower carbon emissions for new homes
• Create a new net zero carbon housing development in Toton in the East Midlands through a development corporation