Bonfire of red tape to create homes and jobs
A PLANNING blitz starting today will speed up the building of homes, hospitals and schools and save high streets, according to ministers.
Outdated rules and red tape will be ditched to get Britain moving again in the biggest shake-up for a generation.
Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick said it will create thousands of postpandemic jobs. He pledged to revive town centres by removing eyesores, transforming unused buildings and making the most of brownfield land.
Flexibility
The Cabinet minister promised that precious green belt land will continue to be protected.
Mr Jenrick said: “We are creating the most small businessfriendly planning system in the world to provide the flexibility needed for high streets to bounce back from the pandemic.
“By diversifying our town and city centres and encouraging the conversion of unused
shops into cafes, restaurants or even new homes we can help the high street to adapt and thrive.”
Mr Jenrick added: “The public also want improvements to public services as quickly as possible. “So these changes will also help schools and hospitals to adapt quickly to changing needs, with a new fast track for extending public service buildings. “This will help deliver more classrooms and hospital space.” All new
streets will have to be laid out as treelined under the blueprint, while future homes must become carbon neutral by 2050.
The overhaul is set out in a white paper, Planning For The Future, published today.
Faster
The shake-up is expected to help the Government head towards its target of 300,000 new homes a year.
The changes allow bigger extensions to public buildings including schools, colleges and hospitals, which ministers hope will enable them to grow faster.
Turning unused commercial buildings into housing will encourage more people to live near high streets and
travel to the area for both work and leisure, it is hoped.
The homes will be delivered via a simpler “prior approval” process instead of a full planning application and will be subject to high standards, ensuring they provide adequate natural light and meet space requirements.
Currently, public buildings can have small extensions without requiring full planning application.
The changes include protections to stop statues being removed. Planning permission will be required for monument alterations, to stop Britain’s history being “censored”.
If heritage body Historic England objects to a council’s approval of such a removal, the Communities Secretary will have the final say.