Jenrick Pushed MHCLG Staff To Fast-Track Westferry Decision

Housing secretary Robert Jenrick ignored advice from government officials and was “insistent” on pushing through planning approval for the Westferry Printworks scheme before the council introduced new charges, documents reveal. Correspondence released by the government show Mr Jenrick pressured civil servants into fast-tracking a decision on the controversial 1,500-home development to avoid council charges that would have cost the developer – a Conservative Party donor – around £40m. The planning application was approved – against the planning inspector’s recommendation – on 15 January 2020, one day before Tower Hamlets’ Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) charge was introduced, saving developer Richard Desmond £40m. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/jenrick-pushed-mhclg-staff-to-fast-track-westferry-printworks-decision-to-avoid-council-charges-documents-reveal-66963

Small Decline In Planning Applications Granted

District-level planning authorities granted 91,700 decisions between April and June 2019 – a 3 per cent decline compared with the same quarter a year earlier. This equates to 88 per cent of the decisions, the same percentage as the corresponding quarter a year earlier, states a statistical release from the MHCLG. It found that 83 per cent of major and minor decisions were granted, which is the same as the quarter ending June 2018. In total, district-level authorities reported 103,900 decisions on planning applications in April to June 2019, which is 3 per cent less than the 106,900 decisions in the same quarter of the previous year. Read more on the Planning Portal.

https://www.planningportal.co.uk/news/article/665/planning_news_-_2_october_2019?utm_source=PPQ+Newsletter&utm_campaign=5b607dba98-Newsletter_11072019_HTML_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_734e0b63a9-5b607dba98-7266185#one

High Court Backs Islington In A Landmark Planning Case On Affordable Homes

A High Court judge has backed Islington Council in a long-standing battle between the council and developer Parkhurst Road Limited, who refused to provide affordable homes on a site in line with the council’s planning rules. The developer bought the site in 2013 and has attempted to secure planning permission for a residential development with little or no affordable housing, ignoring the long-standing planning requirements on the provision of affordable homes set by the council. An initial planning application was submitted in 2013. The council refused planning permission for this development twice on the grounds of not providing enough affordable housing, as well as other matters. Read more on the Islington Council website.

http://www.islington.media/r/97837/high_court_backs_islington_in_a_landmark_planning_case_on

Average House Price Is Now Eight Times The Average Wage

Analysis from the Local Government Association (LGA) reveals that in 2000 the average house price was 3.96 times the average income, whereas last year it was 7.72 times the average wage. The LGA is calling for an urgent investment in house-building and infrastructure, to deliver the genuinely affordable homes the country needs. Councils approve nine in 10 planning applications but restrictions on their ability to borrow to invest in new housing are holding them back, and the LGA is calling for these to be lifted. The last time the country built the amount of homes a year it needs, in the 1970s, 40 per cent of new homes were built by local authorities. Last year, councils lost more homes through the Right to Buy scheme than were started in the last five years. Read more on the LGA website.

Planning Approvals For Residential Schemes Up By 6%

Planning departments approved 6% more residential applications than a year ago, official statistics released today show. Figures from the CLG revealed that councils in England granted 12,700 residential planning applications from October to December 2016. Permission was granted for 82% of major residential developments and 74% of minor developments. There were 112,100 planning applications submitted, a 1% increase on the same period in 2015. Read more on Inside Housing.

Delivering More Homes Through Small Sites

New research produced by the FMB and the Local Government Information Unit (LGiU) has revealed some of the barriers to developing small sites and makes a set of practical recommendations on how local authorities and SME builders can work together to overcome these. Among findings, the surveys found that:

·         87% of local authorities said that they did not think the Government would reach its housing targets with current resourcing levels.

·         79% of SME builders think the planning application for small sites is ‘too heavy-handed’

·         55% of local authorities said that the quality of planning applications for small sites is often poor

·         80% of SME builders said that local authorities in their area do not proactively communicate or engage with them

Download the report from the FMB website.

Residential Planning Applications Rise 6% In A Year

The number of granted residential planning applications has increased by 6% compared to last year, according to the latest figures. Figures released by the CLG show 12,900 applications received by planning authorities between June and September were for residential developments, a 6% rise on the figure for the equivalent period in 2015.The figures also show quicker decisions are being made by councils regarding planning applications with 85% of major applications decided within target, which is 13 weeks, or an agreed extension. This is up from 80% a year earlier. Read more on Inside Housing.

Councils Approving More Planning Applications

Councils are approving more planning applications compared to the previous year, according to the latest government figures. The figures on planning applications show a 3% increase in planning applications granted permission in 2015/16, compared to 2014/15. There were 372,600 applications granted permission, compared to 360,000 in 2014/15. Councils are also making decisions on more planning applications. There were 424,700 planning applications decided in 2015/16, an increase of 4% on 2014/15. Despite an increasing number of decisions, the number of planning applications submitted was down by 1% between January and March, compared to the same quarter last year. Download the figures from the CLG website.

Council To Grab Back Housing From ‘Failing’ Social Landlords

Talks are under way to try and bring social housing estates in London’s deprived East End back under local authority control.  It follows protests that some landlords don’t carrying out repairs or proper gas safety checks and have “lost touch” with the community. Now Tower Hamlets Council is in talks with Circle Housing to try and prevent its planned merger with Infinity Sutton, turning it into Europe’s biggest social landlord and becoming even less accountable to local families.  The council, meanwhile, has voted that Circle Housing be dropped as a preferred partner for development, a move that would seriously hinder any future planning applications for new properties. Read more on the East London Advertiser website.

Housing: Planning Permission – House of Lords Written Answer

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the number of approved planning applications for housing that have yet to be built.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: As at 1 March 2016, data provided to the department by Glenigan indicate that there were full planning permissions for 658,000 homes in England on sites on which work had either not yet started or completed. Of these around 55,000 (8 per cent) were on unstarted sites granted permission more than three years ago. Typically permissions for these homes will have expired.

Appalling' Decision To Push Through Crucial Housing Law At 3am

The Tories have been slammed for an "appalling" decision to push through key stages of a housing law at 3am. Labour blasted ministers for rushing through a six-hour debate on the Housing Bill - which includes plans to end lifelong tenancies for council homes. The divisive law also launches 'affordable' homes costing £450,000 in London and paves the way for privatised planning applications. Yet key clauses will only be debated after midnight because the government refused to move the debate. Tory ministers also wrote 65 pages of new clauses and amendments "at the last minute", said furious shadow communities minister Roberta Blackman-Woods. Read more on the Daily Mirror website.

Housing Planning Applications Increase

There has been an 11% increase in residential planning applications compared to a year ago. Councils made decisions on 16,200 residential applications in July to September this year, according to the latest government statistics, compared to 14,580 in the same period last year. Planning authorities approved 75% of applications, the same proportion as last year. Download the figures from the CLG website.

Developers to Make Affordable Housing Viability Studies 'Fully Public'

A London borough is to make it mandatory for all developers to supply a "fully public" viability study - if they submit planning applications that don’t meet the council's affordable housing target. The Royal Borough of Greenwich requires developers to include at least 35% of affordable housing in new residential developments of more than ten new homes. At the moment, developers who say their development isn’t economically viable with this level of affordable housing have to supply a viability study which they can request stays confidential. The study is then assessed by an independent expert on behalf of the council which makes recommendations to the planning board as part of the overall report it considers in relation to the application. Read more on 24dash.

Innovative House-Building Scheme Takes Next Step

An innovative house-building scheme has taken a major step forward as Birmingham City Council submitted the planning application for its first purpose-built private rented sector residential scheme. Named Embankment, the scheme aims to set a new standard for private rented accommodation and encourage other providers to follow suit.  A wholly-owned company has already been set up following cabinet approval in December 2014, which will develop the site in the city centre. The scheme supports the Birmingham Development Plan which sets out the need to provide at least 80,000 new homes by 2031, and it is anticipated that some 62 per cent of these will be in the private sector. Read more on the Birmingham City Council website.

Housing Boom on Horizon

A new housing boom could be on the way - with a relaxation of planning laws prompting a surge in the number of large housing estates being forced through by developers, a study claims. England’s local authorities approved 195,000 planning applications over the past year, which is a 9 per cent rise on the average before legal changes came in promoting sustainable development. The figures come as a Conservative peer said hundreds of thousands of homes must be built on 800 square miles of British countryside where there are ‘big, open, flat fields of no agricultural merit’. Lord Wolfson of Aspley Guise said the Government must allow construction on greenfield areas - and added that he does not believe the country is already over-developed.  Read more on the Daily Mail website.

Record Planning Permissions Create a 400,000 Home Building Backlog

New research by the Local Government Association (LGA) reveals a bumper building backlog of 400,000 new homes which have received planning permission but have not yet been completed, with building yet to start on more than half of approved plots.  At the current rate of construction it would take developers three-and-a-quarter years to clear the backlog by building all of the new homes local authorities have signed off.  Meanwhile, Government figures show that councils are more positive towards development than ever, with the overall percentage of planning applications being given the green light by local authorities hitting a 10-year record high last year.  The figures also show that the time taken by developers to complete work on site has increased by several months since the credit crunch, with the longest taking nearly nine years from permission being granted to homes being built.  Read more on the LGA website.

Right to Build Cuts the Red Tape to Get Projects off The Ground

A radical new Right to Build will put the power to grant planning permission firmly in the hands of communities.  Housing Minister Grant Shapps will make £17million available to help local people get their building projects off the drawing board - with an 'early bird bonus' for those that move quickly and get their plans in early.  And a new support hub will offer the help and advice they need.  Under the new Community Right to Build, communities will be able to approve new local developments without the need to go through the normal planning application process.  As long as the proposals meet certain criteria and there is the backing of more than 50 per cent of voters in a local referendum, these projects will get the go-ahead.  The Minister will also pledge an 'early bird bonus' of up to £2,000 to those that move quickly and get their plans in by the end of March next year.  And for those looking for advice and support, community charity Locality will launch a new website, phone line, seminars and detailed one-to-one mentoring for those looking to use their Right to Build.  Read more on the CLG website.

Developers Backtrack On Affordable Homes Pledges

Private developers are tearing up agreed planning applications to submit new ones with lower affordable homes quotas in a bid to take advantage of a council policy. In February this year, the executive board of Leeds Council changed the requirements for affordable housing for developers. The council split the city into five areas with four of them having reduced quotas for affordable housing. Outer and inner suburbs both had quotas slashed in half – from 30 per cent to 15 per cent – while only outer area/rural north experienced a raise – from 30 per cent to 35 per cent. The measures were meant to encourage developers to build more, but have actually resulted in some throwing out agreed applications and putting in new ones with smaller numbers of affordable homes. Read more on Inside Housing.