Labour's Manifesto – Planning and Housing

Labour's manifesto signals a much more direct approach by Central Government to issues of planning and infrastructure, as they look to intervene in the market to achieve the delivery of homes and supporting energy and other infrastructure. My colleague Catherine Howard has provided views about the proposals for energy and infrastructure in our Infra & Consenting Notes, and in this blog I provide a summary and views on the key proposals for the planning system and housing, as two of the key focuses of the pledges.  

So, what are they promising?

On planning reform the key proposals are:

• Immediately update the National Policy Planning Framework to undo damaging Conservative changes, including:
  • Restoring mandatory housing targets.
  • Reforming and strengthening the presumption in favour of sustainable development.
• Taking tough action to ensure that planning authorities have up-to date Local Plans.
• Support for local authorities by funding additional planning officers (through increasing the rate of the stamp duty surcharge paid by non-UK residents), and the provision of multi-year funding settlements for Council's.
• Introducing strategic planning across the Country, by providing effective new mechanisms for cross-boundary strategic planning, requiring all Combined and Mayoral Authorities to strategically plan for housing growth in their areas, and giving Combined Authorities new planning powers along with new freedoms and flexibilities to make better use of grant funding.
• Reforming compulsory purchase compensation rules to improve land assembly, speed up site delivery, and deliver housing, infrastructure, amenity, and transport benefit, and for specific types of development schemes, landowners will be awarded compensation not based on the prospect of planning permission.

This approach to reforming and supporting the planning system has been known for some time already. As has Labour's position on the use of CPO powers and the removal of hope value (and already brought into force by LURA). That is still possibly the most controversial element of the proposals, which will strip landowners of receiving a value for land which reflects what that value would have been if the land benefitted from a planning permission for redevelopment. One can understand why that is attractive for any administration struggling to achieve housing delivery at scale, as it will reduce the land receipts and those savings can then be used to unlock schemes with struggling viability and deliver more affordable housing. Affected landowners may however take a different view.

The rest of the proposals are not surprising, and it would be difficult to find many people in the industry who do not think a more direct approach to drive development, and in turn economic growth, is not what is needed. The proposals for local authority resourcing are certainly sorely needed, following a significant period for LA's without sufficient long-term funding leaving planning departments understaffed and (unavoidably) unable to function as they need to.

And the proposals for regional strategic planning across the country is also something that has been required for far too long to drive the delivery of development in a co-ordinated way. To many in the planning industry it is baffling that that this level of strategic planning is not already in place given the clear benefits of it.

In many ways then Labour's proposals for the planning system are a welcome return to planning as it formerly was and which should be able to function and deliver better. One hope's the certainty of outcomes (which is for many the biggest problem with the English planning system) will significantly improve also.

And so on Housing, Labour are promising:

• 1.5 million new homes over the next parliament.
• A brownfield first approach, prioritising the development of previously used land wherever possible, and fast-tracking approval of urban brownfield sites.
• Committed to preserving the green belt. Without changing its purpose or general extent, will take a more strategic approach to greenbelt land designation and release to build more homes in the right places.
• The release of lower quality ‘grey belt’ land will be prioritised and the introduction of ‘golden rules’ to ensure new housing  development benefits communities and nature.
• Delivery of the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation, and better protecting existing affordable housing stock by reviewing the increased right to buy discounts introduced in 2012 and increasing protections on newly-built social housing.
• Will ensure local communities continue to shape housebuilding in their area, but where necessary Labour will not be afraid to make full use of intervention powers to build the houses we need.
• Taking steps to ensure we are building more high-quality, well-designed, and sustainable homes and creating places that increase climate resilience and promote nature recovery.
• Implementing solutions to unlock the building of homes affected by nutrient neutrality without weakening environmental protections.
• And last, but by no means least, building a new generation of new towns. Alongside urban extensions and regeneration projects, these will form part of a series of large-scale new communities across England.

Given the dire state of the UK housing market and the terrible position first time buyers find themselves in, it is no surprise housing is such a key focus, and it is not likely that many will criticise the ambition of Labour to do more to directly deliver homes which will be and will remain affordable, as well as to a suitably high design and build standard. But some of those proposals also lack the necessary substance to understand what they will actually mean is done, and therefore how they will be successful. For example, what will the solutions be to unlock the building of homes affected by nutrient neutrality, or indeed water scarcity in the short term, and how will large housing developments be increased at pace to deliver the 1.5 million homes (and we can assume circa 500,000 affordable homes) in a difficult economic climate and with significant supply side constraints. This will require a long-term concerted effort and innovative working and funding arrangements with delivery partners, and it will also undoubtedly require Central Government to override local concerns in many instances (as they state they will be content to do). One can expect that how labour perform on housing would define their term in Government (should they be elected).

The proposals then are not so much visionary as they are common sense to many in the industry who can see where the pressures are, and what frameworks need to be in place to best combat those with a more strategic and less piecemeal (dare I say it local) approach. With the times now as they are and with the need for more direct state action in response, many will see that the Labour Manifesto commitments represent a considered and clear vision and strategy to improve the fortunes of UK development, and of those who live and work in it.

If you are interested to understand more about how Labour's proposals may impact your development plans, please get in touch.