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| Version 8 | Version 9 |
|---|---|
| Planning shake-up to get more homes built | Planning shake-up to get more homes built |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Developers could get automatic planning permission to build on disused industrial sites in England. | Developers could get automatic planning permission to build on disused industrial sites in England. |
| Ministers would also get powers to seize disused land, while major housing projects could be fast-tracked, and rules on extensions in London relaxed. | Ministers would also get powers to seize disused land, while major housing projects could be fast-tracked, and rules on extensions in London relaxed. |
| Business Secretary Sajid Javid unveiled the plans as part of a broader push to boost Britain's productivity. | Business Secretary Sajid Javid unveiled the plans as part of a broader push to boost Britain's productivity. |
| It came as official figures showed new house building fell by 5.8% in May, the sharpest decline in nearly four years. | It came as official figures showed new house building fell by 5.8% in May, the sharpest decline in nearly four years. |
| There is a question mark over whether building more homes will boost productivity as much as ministers claim. | There is a question mark over whether building more homes will boost productivity as much as ministers claim. |
| Treasury sources say workers are more productive when they live closer to their jobs - but critics say increasing airport capacity and electrifying the Transpennine rail line would have a much bigger effect. | Treasury sources say workers are more productive when they live closer to their jobs - but critics say increasing airport capacity and electrifying the Transpennine rail line would have a much bigger effect. |
| 'Suitable sites' | 'Suitable sites' |
| Emran Mian, a director of the Social Market Foundation think tank, said: "I think if I was thinking about a productivity plan, housing wouldn't be the first issue I would leap to." | Emran Mian, a director of the Social Market Foundation think tank, said: "I think if I was thinking about a productivity plan, housing wouldn't be the first issue I would leap to." |
| Electrification of the Trans Pennine line between Manchester and Leeds and a section of the Midland Mainline has been delayed and a decision on a third runway at Heathrow, recommended by an independent commission, will not be made until the end of the year. | Electrification of the Trans Pennine line between Manchester and Leeds and a section of the Midland Mainline has been delayed and a decision on a third runway at Heathrow, recommended by an independent commission, will not be made until the end of the year. |
| Analysts have also questioned whether there is enough brownfield land - a term which refers to land that has previously been developed but is vacant or derelict - available to meet the UK's housing needs over the next 15 years. | Analysts have also questioned whether there is enough brownfield land - a term which refers to land that has previously been developed but is vacant or derelict - available to meet the UK's housing needs over the next 15 years. |
| Under the new proposals - which will need to be approved by MPs - automatic planning permission would be granted on all "suitable" brownfield sites under a new "zonal" system. | Under the new proposals - which will need to be approved by MPs - automatic planning permission would be granted on all "suitable" brownfield sites under a new "zonal" system. |
| Another change would see ministers seek to scrap the need for planning permission in London for developers who want to extend buildings to the height of neighbouring properties, which they say will "add dynamism" to house building in the capital. | Another change would see ministers seek to scrap the need for planning permission in London for developers who want to extend buildings to the height of neighbouring properties, which they say will "add dynamism" to house building in the capital. |
| Green belt land | Green belt land |
| Planning powers will be devolved to mayors in London and Manchester, while enhanced compulsory purchase powers will allow more brownfield land to be made available for development. | Planning powers will be devolved to mayors in London and Manchester, while enhanced compulsory purchase powers will allow more brownfield land to be made available for development. |
| There would also be new sanctions for councils that do not deal with planning applications quickly enough, and the government would be able to intervene in councils' local development plans. | There would also be new sanctions for councils that do not deal with planning applications quickly enough, and the government would be able to intervene in councils' local development plans. |
| Mr Javid told the BBC the 141,000 new homes built last year were a fraction of those needed to meet demand. | Mr Javid told the BBC the 141,000 new homes built last year were a fraction of those needed to meet demand. |
| "Local people will still have control over planning," he said. | "Local people will still have control over planning," he said. |
| "The point of this is to make sure we build more homes, that local people are still rightly involved in those decisions and we find ways to speed it up." | "The point of this is to make sure we build more homes, that local people are still rightly involved in those decisions and we find ways to speed it up." |
| There was "no need" to build on green belt land, he insisted, to meet the government's targets. | There was "no need" to build on green belt land, he insisted, to meet the government's targets. |
| Carrot and stick | Carrot and stick |
| "The green belt can be rightly protected. There is plenty of land which is not green belt that we can build on and which is suitable for housing and we need to get on with it. We need to find new ways to encourage it." | "The green belt can be rightly protected. There is plenty of land which is not green belt that we can build on and which is suitable for housing and we need to get on with it. We need to find new ways to encourage it." |
| In 2013, ministers were forced to back track on plans to allow single-storey extensions of a certain size to be built without planning permission, so that neighbours would have the right to be consulted on building work. | In 2013, ministers were forced to back track on plans to allow single-storey extensions of a certain size to be built without planning permission, so that neighbours would have the right to be consulted on building work. |
| Mark Field, Conservative MP for Westminster and the Cities of London, said the chancellor may have "run out of patience" with councils for dragging their feet on the issue and he expected "some kickback" against the plans, including from Conservative-run county councils. | |
| "We have tried the carrot approach with our councils and now we need to have more of a stick," he told the BBC's Daily Politics. "Whether that stick works is another matter." | "We have tried the carrot approach with our councils and now we need to have more of a stick," he told the BBC's Daily Politics. "Whether that stick works is another matter." |
| But the Local Government Association said councils were not holding up new homes and that developers were not prioritising brownfield sites. It called for stronger compulsory purchase order powers to allow councils to buy up sites "stuck in the system". | But the Local Government Association said councils were not holding up new homes and that developers were not prioritising brownfield sites. It called for stronger compulsory purchase order powers to allow councils to buy up sites "stuck in the system". |
| Professor Tony Travers, a local government expert at the London School of Economics, said the proposals were a step towards the "nationalisation of planning decisions" and a "shift away" from the localism agenda of the coalition government. | Professor Tony Travers, a local government expert at the London School of Economics, said the proposals were a step towards the "nationalisation of planning decisions" and a "shift away" from the localism agenda of the coalition government. |
| 'Tougher choices' | 'Tougher choices' |
| The government's Fixing the Foundations package also includes measures on higher education, transport, devolution of powers to cities and trade. | The government's Fixing the Foundations package also includes measures on higher education, transport, devolution of powers to cities and trade. |
| Speaking in Birmingham as he launched the report, much of whose contents were announced in Wednesday's Budget, Mr Javid pledged to get "Britain moving, building and learning". | Speaking in Birmingham as he launched the report, much of whose contents were announced in Wednesday's Budget, Mr Javid pledged to get "Britain moving, building and learning". |
| He acknowledged the UK was falling behind its competitors in terms of productivity, saying it took British workers five days more than their German counterparts to match their output per hour. | He acknowledged the UK was falling behind its competitors in terms of productivity, saying it took British workers five days more than their German counterparts to match their output per hour. |
| This was not the fault of workers, who worked longer hours than in most other countries, but of the failure of successive governments to modernise infrastructure and invest in skills and training. | This was not the fault of workers, who worked longer hours than in most other countries, but of the failure of successive governments to modernise infrastructure and invest in skills and training. |
| Up to £100bn would be spent on improving the transport network by 2020, he said, warning that unless action was taken 100 million working days would be lost every year to congestion by 2040. | Up to £100bn would be spent on improving the transport network by 2020, he said, warning that unless action was taken 100 million working days would be lost every year to congestion by 2040. |