Councils will be encouraged to speed up the planning process for ‘beautiful buildings’ through a new ‘Fast Track for Beauty’ rule.
The proposal is part of Government plans to ensure well-designed and high quality homes are common place.
The Living in Beauty report also calls for the planting of millions of trees and zero-carbon homes being built as standard within the next five years.
Housing secretary Robert Jenrick said: ‘I am interested in the proposal of a “fast track for beauty”. Where individuals and developers have put in the time to create proposals for well-designed buildings, which use high quality-materials and take account of their local setting, it can’t be right their planning applications are held up.
‘I too want to see a return to planting more trees. We set out in our manifesto that we will expect all new streets to be lined with trees and are working to make this commitment a reality.’
He added: ‘And the report is right that local authorities will need to play a leading role in this design revolution. We will need to ensure they have the right skills and leadership to fully carry out their role as place-makers.’
Philip Box, policy and project and coordinator at UKGBC, said: 'We acknowledge the important role of the work of the Commission in providing wide-ranging recommendations to meet the complex challenge of addressing of poor design, and we hope the Government builds on the comprehensive nature of this work to ensure good design is delivered through holistic policy-making, rather than quick fixes.'
