Thousands more homes across the country will be delivered quicker
and more easily thanks to new planning changes
announced today.
- Councils to be able to buy cheaper land to deliver more homes
and drive economic growth.
- Removal of ‘hope value' to help councils meet housing targets
- Supporting the government's Plan for Change to deliver 1.5
million homes and overhaul the planning system.
Thousands of more homes across the country will be delivered
quicker and more easily thanks to new planning changes
announced today, driving new investment for town centres and
economic growth for local communities.
Under proposals set out by the Government today, local councils
across the country will be empowered to buy cheaper land through
the use of Compulsory Purchase Orders and build much needed homes
and infrastructure as part of the government's Plan for Change
milestone to build 1.5 million new homes while driving
growth across the country.
The proposed changes mean councils, Mayoral Combined Authorities
and other public bodies, including Homes England, will be able to
directly take control of vacant and derelict land from landowners
paying a fair price and not inflated ‘hope value' costs, where
they are delivering in the public interest. ‘Hope value'
estimates the cost land could be worth if developed on in the
future, meaning many councils are often forced to pay thousands
of pounds more to buy land for development or get caught in
lengthy disputes over costs.
The reforms expand existing legislation allowing ‘hope value' to
be removed in more circumstances where social and affordable
housing is being built, accelerating housebuilding, helping more
families on to the property ladder and to get more of the social
and affordable homes communities need built, as well as making a
positive use of unsightly, vacant land.
, the Housing and Planning
Minister, said:
“In our manifesto, we committed ourselves to further compulsory
purchase reform to deliver more housing, infrastructure, amenity,
and transport benefits in the public interest.
“The consultation we are launching today is the next step in
fulfilling that commitment – proposing reforms that will make the
process faster and more efficient, enabling more land value to be
captured and then invested in schemes for public benefit.”
Proposed changes to CPOs are now being consulted on and include
proposals that aim to speed-up decision making, reduce the cost
of the process and ensure the compensation paid to landowners is
fair.
The eight-week consultation will consider views from builders,
councils, and the wider sector before the findings are analysed
and used to inform the forthcoming Planning and Infrastructure
Bill, to be introduced next year.
This consultation follows the government's announcement last week
to overhaul the planning system and make landmark changes to the
National Planning Policy Framework. As well as new mandatory
housing targets for councils, areas will receive an additional
£100 million next year to hire more staff and consultants as well
as fund more resources to carry out technical studies and site
assessments.
As part of its relentless focus to get Britain building again,
the government has already:
- Announced an overhaul of the planning system through reforms
to the NPPF
- Launched a New Homes Accelerator to unlock thousands of homes
currently in the planning system
- Set out proposals for ‘brownfield passports' to ensure where
planning proposals meet design and quality standards, the default
answer to planning permission is yes
- Set up an independent New Towns Taskforce, as part of a
long-term vision to create large-scale communities of at least
10,000 new homes each
- Awarded £68 million to 54 local councils to unlock housing on
brownfield sites
- Awarded £47 million to seven councils to unlock homes stalled
by nutrient neutrality rules
- Provided vital £700m support to SME housebuilders in 2025-26
by extending the Home Building Fund, that was due to
close on 31 March 2025. The Fund is on track to deliver
42,000 homes - extending this will deliver 12,000 additional
homes and support even more SME housebuilders.
Note to editors:
The Consultation on Compulsory Purchase Process and Compensation
Reforms will be open for eight weeks and will close in February
2025. It is available here.
