28.05.2025
This week has seen the release of two working papers and two technical consultations by The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, to help speed up the delivery of new homes.
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It’s been a busy week so far, with the Government announcing a series of reforms aimed at driving forward the Government’s agenda to build more homes (1.5 million to be exact, by the end of this Parliament), with the latest updates emphasising a focus on SME house builders and the delivery of smaller sites.
The latest updates at the time of writing, include (deep breath) the following:
All of the above, request responses throughout July, so it is set to be a busy few months for the industry!
There is a lot to get through, but we have sought to provide a summary of the key changes being considered and the potential implications on planning.
The general thrust of this paper is to provide mechanisms to help to deliver houses on the ground more quickly.
Whilst the Government is offering carrots to developers through wider reforms to the planning system, this paper can largely be seen as a series of sticks to ensure permissions for homes become actual homes in practice, as quickly as possible. It has potentially significant implications for developers both from a planning and viability perspective, and as such, a paper which is definitely one to take time to consider and respond to.
The key proposals include:
1) Build-out Reporting Framework
This will require a new reporting process for “eligible residential development” (over 50 units), as follows:
2) Decline to determine applications
LPAs could have power to decline to determine planning applications made by persons who applied for, or who are connected to, an earlier planning permission for the development of land in the LPA’s area which has not been built out at a reasonable rate. This is likely to refer to information as set out in the Build-out Reporting Framework.
The aim is to try and prevent developers who persistently fail to build out quickly and to avoid speculative applications by developers who have no intention of ever building out. At this stage, MCHLG does not propose to set out prescriptive guidance on what “unreasonably slow” build out rate actually means.
3) Completion Notices
Completion notices require developers to complete their development within a certain period of time, otherwise the planning permission will cease – a form of “use it or lose it”.
4) Mixed Tenure Thresholds
Introduction of a partnership model to incentivise firms to deliver further and faster. This could include a site size threshold above which sites must deliver on a mixed tenure basis, including working with built to rent and registered providers (starting from 500 units).
5) Compulsory Purchase Orders
To support use of CPOs on sites which have stalled over a long period, a reform introduced by the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 is proposed to allow the conditional confirmation of CPOs. This will allow the use of CPOs to be established earlier in the land assembly process on sites where alternative proposals have been put forward by landowners.
The conditional confirmation of CPOs could be used to ensure landowners progress their alternative proposals within certain timescales, which would be made clear when an individual CPO is conditionally confirmed. Where they fail to do so, CPO powers could then be switched on. Secondary legislation required to implement this reform later this year.
6) Delayed Homes Penalty
A new tool for LPAs, to be used as a last resort measure where build out is falling significantly behind the agreed schedule without a reasonable justification (which could include external factors set nationally in guidance). Details are yet to be determined, and likely to only apply to sites over a certain threshold. The penalty would be charged on each home behind the pre-agreed built out schedule.
The Government appears conscious that it will be important this is set, and guidance is firm so that it does not disincentivise land being bought forward for development.
This paper seeks views on reforming the site size thresholds in the planning system to be better support housing delivery on different types of sites, recognising the crucial role SME builders play in the delivery of housing.
The Working Paper seeks views on changes to the development management regulations, which taken together, would create the following categories:
Includes: streamlining BNG requirements, retaining the requirement that affordable housing contributions are not required, minor development would be exempt from the Building Safety Levy (BSL), maintaining 8-week statutory timeframes, reducing validation requirements and requiring all schemes to be delegated to officers.
The Government is considering a ‘very small sites’ threshold in an attempt to go even further in streamlining the planning process and are proposing to support the delivery of very small site through provision of template design costs and digital tools.
Includes: simplifying BNG requirements, exploring exempting these sites from the BSL, exempting build out transparency proposals, maintaining 13-week statutory timeframes, uplifting the Planning in Principle threshold and minimising validation requirements.
Includes: views on the application of a threshold for mixed tenure requirement on larger sites.
*Note that the working paper refers to DEFRA consultation on BNG, which is discussed in more detail later on.
The reforms are intended to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of decision making principally through the establishment of a national scheme of delegation, providing a consistent framework and certainty for developers across the country. Additional reforms include guidance on the size of planning committees and a mandatory requirement for all planning committees to undertake certified training to ensure that decisions are properly informed.
The proposed national scheme of delegation currently comprises two tiers:
Includes planning permission for; householder/minor development, reserved matters approvals, S96A NMAs, conditions, BNG plan, prior approval, Lawful Development Certificates and Certificates of appropriate alternative development.
Includes applications not included in Tier A, such as significant housing/commercial development or controversial or complex development which may warrant committee scrutiny.
Size and Composition of Planning Committees
The MHCLG does not intend to take forward early proposals to introduce strategic development committees, following feedback that local planning authorities already had the power to form such committees and were doing so where it was needed.
However, views are sought on establishing requirements for the size and composition of committees to support effective and informed debate on planning applications. A committee size of 8-11 members was deemed to be optimal, however recognising the need for flexibility at the local level, the MHCLG is proposing a maximum of 11 members in the regulations. This will not be a requirement, and it is recognised that smaller committee sizes may work better locally.
Mandatory Training for Planning Committee Members
While many local authorities in England already offer training to their members, recent survey feedback indicates that 45% of respondents feel they do not have a good understanding of planning and planning processes following training, which indicates that there is scope for a more consistent and qualitative approach to be established.
Feedback on the working paper suggested strong support for mandatory training for members, comprising a combination of national policy/guidance and content driven by the local context (including the local development plan). The MHCLG proposes to introduce some form of training certification to ensure that members can only make decisions if they have been trained. Views are sought on the options for this certification.
The consultation acknowledges that whilst there are examples of minor development successfully meeting the 10% BNG requirement, challenges include:
Improving Exemptions:
The consultation seeks views on the following options packages for minor development:
Neither of these options will apply to medium development.
In addition, the consultation considers whether there is evidence to support the introduction of new exemptions for certain types of development (which could apply to non-minor development) if they provide:
Streamlining the BNG Metric Process:
The consultation considers whether the use of Small Sites Metric (SSM) should be extended to the new ‘medium development’ category as defined in the Working Paper referenced earlier on in this article. This would increase the scale of use of the SSM from sites with 1-9 dwellings, to up to 49 homes on 1ha.
Increasing flexibility to go off-site for Minor Development:
The consultation states that Government are considering whether to relax the hierarchy to place onsite habitat improvements with the same preference as off-site, for minor developments only. This would make it easier for small sites to discharge BNG conditions.
Brownfield Developments with Open Mosaic Habitat:
Open Mosaic Habitat (OMH) is a priority habitat which predominantly exists on previously disturbed brownfield sites and is often difficult and expensive for developers and off-site providers to create. The consultation document considers the following options to overcome the challenges for OMH:
So to summarise, the key dates for your July 2025 diary are as follows:
Of course, half-term isn’t over yet, so we wait with bated breath for the next update…
Thank you for getting in touch. We will be in contact shortly.
