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Levelling Up – Opinion Article

What the levelling up white paper means for housing delivery

Last week, the Government published the much-anticipated levelling up white paper. The document has been a long time coming, having been trailed by a former Secretary of State over two years ago.  There is no doubting the role housing delivery will play in levelling up the country. So now Michael Gove has published the white paper, what will its impact be?

Having read the full 332-page document, we have drawn out a few key items that will have an impact, all of which can be found in the “Reforming the planning system in England” section of the document.  

Simplified Local Plans

The white paper says: “local plans will be made simpler and shorter, and improved data that underpins plans will ensure that they are transparent, understandable and take into account the environment that will be developed.”

This commitment will be welcomed by everyone who has an interest in the delivery of housing. Currently, local plans are gargantuan documents which are forgotten almost as soon as they are adopted. They’re so complicated, only 39% of local authorities have adopted a new one in the last five years.

Simpler local plans will provide certainty for developers bringing forward sites, and transparency for communities about what a particular site has been allocated for, and how that decision came to be made.

Meaningful say for communities

Having previously been told the planning system would be reformed to limit the say of communities on individual planning applications, the white paper says: “The ability to have a meaningful say on individual planning applications will be retained and improved through new digital technologies.”

The hope for us comes in the latter part of that statement. The use of digital technologies that allow people to access information and to participate in the planning process, quickly and efficiently, could open the planning process up to individuals who do not participate now.

Too many applications get bogged down in objections by people who already own their own home, who have very strident views on change, and are pre-disposed to object to any application submitted.

Any measure that encourages participation from those who do not currently engage in the planning process (particularly time-poor professionals and renters) are to be welcomed. The hope is, through this measure, we can reach a more balanced debate on the merits and drawbacks of planning applications.

Devolution in England

The Government have promised to bring about new County Deals, deepen the powers of existing Mayors and simplify the framework for English devolution. That could mean new devolution deals in Cornwall, Derbyshire, Devon, Durham, Leicestershire, Norfolk and Nottingham, similar to those that are currently in place in London, Greater Manchester, the West Midlands and elsewhere.

What relevance does that have for housing development? Well, these deals tend to come with additional powers that allow Mayors to drive up housing delivery in their area, most obviously, in London. Should Mayoral administrations, with ambitious plans for housing growth, be elected the areas mentioned above, there is nothing to say they will not become the hotspots for new development investment.

These three represent only some of the measures in the levelling up white paper that might have an impact on housing delivery. There is no doubting the Government recognise the role housing delivery will play in levelling up the country. However, the test will come when the Government comes to put these proposals into practice. Everyone has an interest in the theory being delivered. 

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