The Government has set out new measures to streamline the planning system, including default approval for homes near railway stations and extra protection for pubs.
Housing Secretary Angela Rayner said the shift to a “default yes” for developments around stations in England would help “tackle the housing crisis and raise living standards”.
The change comes as the Government is just over a quarter of the way to its target of building 1.5 million homes in England after two years of the five-year parliament.
Default approval near stations
Under the new National Planning Policy Framework published on Monday, there will be default approval for homes built within “reasonable walking distance of well-connected stations”.
Ms Rayner said: “A safe, secure home is the foundation of opportunity, but too many people are being priced out of the communities where they want to live and work.
“By unlocking thousands of homes around well-connected transport hubs, we’re helping people live closer to work, school and the services they rely on, while backing local businesses and driving growth in our communities.
“That’s how we’ll tackle the housing crisis and raise living standards for people in every corner of the country.”
Protecting pubs and cutting bureaucracy
The plans to protect pubs will make it harder for developers to turn them into flats or shops.
Officials said pubs and music venues are the lifeblood of communities and the changes will prevent them from being lost without good reason.
Under the changes, which will come into effect immediately, developers must prove there is no reasonable prospect of keeping a pub afloat before a change of use can be considered, the Sunday Times reported.
The shake-up will also cut bureaucracy by ending the statutory requirement to consult some organisations on development decisions.
Under the new system, Sport England will continue to advise on “significant” cases, and the Gardens Trust and Theatres Trust will only be notified about relevant applications.
Reactions and progress
Chancellor John Healey said: “We want to drive growth in every postcode and help more working people into home ownership.
“A secure home is the heart of all our lives, helping people put down roots, plan for the future and build a good life for themselves and their families.
“This is about creating opportunity, prosperity and stronger communities across the country.”
The latest estimate is that 392,400 net additional homes had been delivered in England between July 2024 when Labour came into office and June 14 this year.
Around 600,000 new homes would need to have been added in the first two years to keep pace with the 1.5 million target over five years, although ministers are hopeful that planning reforms will speed up delivery in the coming years.
The Garden Trust said it was “devastating news” that the organisation would no longer be a statutory consultee, warning it will put parks at risk.
Trust chairman John Watkins said: “This devalues these special places and makes them vulnerable to poorly informed development.”
Shadow housing secretary Sir James Cleverly said Labour was “failing abysmally” to meet the 1.5 million homes target.
“To try to fix their own mess, Labour are planning a power grab, seizing control from local communities and forcing them to accept development in the wrong areas because Labour won’t build in the right areas,” he said.
Sir James said Mr Burnham “is going to overrule councils on green belt development and launch a new campaign of garden grabbing”.
Reform UK’s deputy leader Richard Tice said: “These reforms are in direct contradiction of Andy Burnham’s devolution agenda.
“Far from empowering local councils who actually know their communities, they strip power from the people who live there and hand it to Whitehall so ministers can ram through major housing developments while sidelining residents and ignoring the infrastructure that already can’t cope.”
