Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill receives Royal Assent

This follows an 18 month review process in both parliamentary houses, which has seen a number of amendments to the legislation.  In a statement published by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Secretary of State Michael Gove said the Act “will deliver more homes for communities across the country and unleash levelling up in left behind places” through “a faster and less bureaucratic planning system”. Gove continued to state that “this Act delivers on the people’s priorities, creating new jobs, new opportunities and a brighter future for the UK”.

A summary of the key measures which are now enshrined into law and applicable in England only are set out below. It should be noted that some of the measures outlined have not commenced immediately and will require secondary legislation.

• New requirements for developers to submit commencement notices to the Local Planning Authority specifying the date on which it is expected that development will be begun;
• Powers for Local Planning Authorities to serve completion notices where they are of the opinion that the development will not be completed within a reasonable period stating that planning permission will cease to have effect at a specified deadline.  In addition, where applicants have been slow to implement previous permissions across local authority areas, Councils will be able to decline to determine applications from such applicants
• A new consenting route which will allow variations to existing planning permissions, including the variation of descriptions of development, through a Section 73B application;
• A new Infrastructure Levy which will replace current Section 106 and Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) regimes;
• Requirements for Local Planning Authorities to have a design code for entire areas under their jurisdiction;
• Increased weight to development plans which will cover “locally specific matters” with “issues that apply in most areas” to be covered by new National Development Management Policies. In the event of conflict, it is the national policy when enacted which would take primacy over local policies. Regard will have to be had to climate change when preparing NDMPs;
• A 30-month maximum timescale on the plan making process;
• The replacement of Environmental Impact Assessments, Sustainability Appraisals and Strategic Environmental Assessments with new Environmental Outcomes Reports;
• Extending the time limits allowed for Local Planning Authorities to take enforcement action to ten years;
• Local Planning Authorities are to have powers to instigate rental auctions on properties in designated areas or streets which have been vacant or empty for a year;
• Introduction of Community Land Auction Pilots intended to capture the value uplift of when it is allocated in a local plan for development which can be used to support development in the area;
• Introduction of a street votes system where residents can propose development on their street and vote on whether planning permission should be given.
• Reforms to compensation for Compulsory Purchase Orders to remove “hope value” from compensation payments where justified;
• Opportunities for Local Planning Authorities to consider applicant’s previous build-out rates in the determination of planning applications.

The Government says that these measures and the Act as a whole will put local people at the heart of development; boost local services; rebalance housing and land markets; encourage developers to get building and bring high streets back to life.  

The changes are expected to take place after associated regulations and changes to national policy are in place, and a number of sections in the Act will require secondary legislation.

Savills understands that the Government intends to bring forward an updated National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) following the Act being brought into law, with Housing Minister Rachael Maclean signalling in the House of Commons on 17 October 2023 that this would be published “as soon as the Bill receives Royal Assent”. The government’s press release of 26 October 2023 states that it will “publish its response to last December’s National Planning Policy Framework in due course” which “will set out how planning policies in England are expected to be applied to help deliver the right homes in the right places”.  The emphasis of the NPPF is expected to shift to guide plan-making with the NDMPs taking precedence as the primary policy guide for decision making.