The Government’s Planning and Infrastructure Bill to reform the planning system has received Royal Assent this week.
The Government describes the legislation as a ‘landmark’ for planning and believes it will cut ‘delays and costs to get homes and critical infrastructure built faster’.
Ministers see the law as vital to meeting its target of building 1.5m new homes and to decide on 150 major infrastructure plans, including those involving new roads, railway lines and windfarms.
Other aims include speeding up reservoir building schemes and to cut energy bills for people living near to pylons for up to £2,500. Earlier this week Essex County Council raised concerns about the proximity of pylons near to a 4,000 new homes development in the county.
Housing secretary Steve Reed says the legislation is needed as ‘growth has been held back by a sluggish planning system, slamming the brakes on building and standing in the way of fixing the housing crisis for good’.
He believes the Act ‘will tear down barriers to growth, and this means getting spades in the ground faster, unshackling projects stuck in planning limbo and crucially unlocking a win-win for the environment and the economy’.
The passing of the Bill into law has been welcomed by Kate Henderson, chief executive of social housing body the National Housing Federation, as a way of speeding up house building, especially as there are currently 170,000 children in temporary accommodation.
‘Planning reform is an essential part of solving the housing crisis, and we’re confident that the measures within this Act will unblock delays in the system and enable housing associations to deliver at scale and pace,’ she said.
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