One million new homes by 2020 is the promise committed to by the current government to tackle the shortage of homes in England and Wales. In support of this promise we have seen the introduction of a major new piece of legislation aimed at managing this shortage: the Housing and Planning Bill 2015-2016. As the name suggests, the Bill contains reforms pinpointed at reforming both the property and planning aspects of providing new housing and managing the current occupation of housing.
The Bill was presented to the House of Commons on 13 October 2015 for its first reading and appears to focus on the following points.
The creation of new homes is top of the agenda. New legislation in the Bill transforms the planning process, in essence giving the Secretary of State a wider scope of powers to intervene if local plans are not in place or have not ben delivered effectively. Further powers are also granted with respect to the building of new houses, namely that market discounts will be available for first time buyers, self-building will become easier and new residential developments meeting specific criteria will only be granted if requirements regarding starter homes are met.
One important aspect of the new Bill is the 'Permission in Principle' provision which allows land intended for development to be granted planning permission in principle. The land must be allocated for development in a certain documents to be eligible. At present this is land in the brownfield register, a development plan or neighbourhood plan document. It is intended that the Permission in Principle provision will be limited to small developments of 10 units or less.
The new Bill also contains provisions regarding the management of current housing, such as power for Local Planning Authorities to ban rogue landlords and further tests for individuals wishing to apply for a license to let accommodation in a house in multiple occupation. Of note there are also provisions making CPOs clearer, fairer and faster.
The Housing and Planning Bill provides promising new legislation which is a serious attempt by the government to tackle the planning, building and management issues of the housing shortage. Time will tell whether concepts such as the Permission in Principle and greater powers for the Secretary of State pan out into a constructive means of overcoming the housing crisis.
Watch this space for further updates as the Bill passes into law.
