Delivering Regeneration: How collaborative contracts are transforming place-making
Discover how collaborative contracting is helping councils deliver regeneration more effectively with this free special report from LocalGov and NEC Contracts.
Councils demand full cost recovery for planning fees
5/28/2026 Proposals to increase planning application fees do not go far enough, the Government has been warned. |
Nature recovery strategy launched for Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin
4/27/2026 A landmark plan to restore wildlife and habitats across Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin has been published. |
London faces loss of 42,000 homes from development pipeline
4/21/2026 At least 42,000 homes are set to be lost from London's residential development pipeline, according to new research from property consultancy Savills. |
North Yorkshire Council urged to reject fracking application
4/21/2026 Campaigners have urged North Yorkshire Council to reject a controversial planning application that would allow fracking to take place near Scarborough. |
Ricky Gervais secures council approval for new mansion
4/8/2026 Planning permission for Ricky Gervais’ new £5m home has been granted by the council following an agreement to contribute to the Carbon Offset Fund. |
Half of approved homes remain unbuilt, council chiefs say
3/30/2026 Data from the Local Councils Network (LCN) reveals a significant 'build-out' gap, with only 52% of homes granted planning permission since 2012-13 completed. |
Government confirms seven locations for new towns
3/23/2026 The Government has announced seven proposed locations for a new generation of towns, each expected to deliver at least 10,000 homes. |
Wiltshire Council outlines next steps after Local Plan setback
3/18/2026 Wiltshire Council has set out its next steps after planning inspectors rejected its draft Local Plan after nearly a decade of work. |
CCN: Planning reforms risk undermining local voices
3/17/2026 County council leaders are warning that the Government's planning reforms will strip local communities of their voice. |
Duchy’s new neighbourhood proposals backed by Swale BC
3/11/2026 Councillors at Swale Borough Council have voted to back the Duchy of Cornwall’s development plans to create a new neighbourhood in Kent. |
Report highlights £5.3bn in unspent developer funds held by councils
3/10/2026 MPs are set to be alerted to £5.3bn in unspent developer contributions currently held in local authority bank accounts, says Urban Mobility Partnership. |
High Court rules developers must fund infrastructure contributions
3/10/2026 The High Court has ruled that developers must provide financial contributions to local authorities for necessary infrastructure. |
Call to overhaul community consultation within planning system
3/6/2026 Public engagement specialists have called on the Government to overhaul community consultation practices within the planning system. |
Mobile industry urges planning reform to accelerate 5G Standalone rollout
3/3/2026 The UK’s mobile sector has called on the Government to modernise planning regulations to help unlock 5G Standalone and free up local planning authorities. |
London mayor warned over ‘growing disconnect’ in housing design
3/2/2026 A committee has written to Sadiq Khan warning of a widening gap between what residents want built and the developments being delivered across London. |
Stalled Before They Start: Councils struggling to deliver regen projects
3/2/2026 Economic turbulence and a volatile national policy landscape are preventing councils from delivering regeneration, housing and infrastructure projects. |
Government using strategic planning agenda to speed up devo
2/18/2026 Concerns have been raised over the Government's use of its strategic planning agenda to speed up decisions around devolution. |
Gloucestershire CC supports nature recovery with new local strategy
2/18/2026 Gloucestershire County Council has produced a strategy to promote nature recovery and enhance biodiversity across the region. |
Planning enforcement delays undermining trust, Ombudsman says
2/17/2026 Prolonged delays in local authority planning enforcement are leaving unlawful developments in place and undermining public trust, watchdog says. |
Minister blocks local plan
2/10/2026 The Government has put Three Rivers District Council’s local plan on hold because of a shortfall of 5,000 houses. |
Councils face barriers approving heritage retrofit, report warns
2/6/2026 Just 16% of council officers feel confident making decisions about retrofit measures for heritage buildings, research has found. |
Local land charge searches halted due to cyber attack fallout
2/4/2026 Two councils are facing challenges conducting local land charge searches following last year’s cyber attacks. |
10 ways councils are responding to new housing and planning policy
1/27/2026 With the Government’s target of building 1.5 million homes by 2029 looming, councils are enacting a number of policy shifts to accelerate housing delivery and increase the efficiency of planning processes. |
Council secures High Court sentence over planning breaches
1/26/2026 Tewkesbury Borough Council has secured a High Court sentence after a landowner repeatedly breached planning control and a court injunction. |
Cadcorp launches Mapestry
1/19/2026 New application transforms communication into an interactive, map-based experience. |
Reed hails housing starts increase
1/16/2026 The number of new build starts in the year ending September 2025 has increased by 18% compared to the previous year. |
Housing targets could be reduced for new town areas
1/13/2026 The Government has indicated councils’ housing targets could be reduced if planned new towns are placed in the area. |
Housing approvals drop in final quarter of 2025
1/6/2026 New data has revealed the number of housing projects granted approval dropped by 17% in the last three months of 2025. |
Cleverly backs pro-density housing report
12/23/2025 Shadow housing secretary James Cleverly has backed a report by think-tank Policy Exchange that called for a fresh approach to building high density homes. |
‘Landmark’ Bill to overhaul planning system receives Royal Assent
12/19/2025 The Government’s Planning and Infrastructure Bill to reform the planning system has received Royal Assent this week. |
Planning overhaul to clamp down on 'unjustified local deviation'
12/17/2025 Revised planning rules unveiled by the Government yesterday would result in a ‘default yes’ in favour of development around train stations, on brownfield sites and for blocks of flats. |
Value of new homes at risk due to 100-mile pylon plan, warns council
12/16/2025 Essex County Council is concerned the value of a 4,000 new home development in its area could be hit by National Grid plans to install 100 miles of pylons close by. |
Grey belt countryside warning
12/8/2025 Almost nine in 10 grey belt developments approved by the Government rather than councils over the last year involve ‘unspoilt rural landscapes’, countryside campaigners have warned. |
Budget: More funding to recruit planners
11/26/2025 Funding to recruit officers has been announced in a bid to boost capacity in the planning system as part of today's Budget. |
Reed green lights controversial £750m film studio
11/26/2025 A multi-million-pound film studio has been granted planning permission by the Government despite the local council’s objections. |
Wimbledon Park planning ‘struggle’ continues as campaigners appeal
11/20/2025 A local campaign group will be appealing against the planning approval secured by All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) for Wimbledon Park’s expansion. |
Major solar farm planned for Dorset Council-owned land
11/13/2025 Dorset Council is set to pursue plans for a major solar farm on a council-owned site near Weymouth, under new proposals outlined in a report to its cabinet. |
Major Salford regeneration project gets green light
11/7/2025 A major redevelopment of the Regent Retail Park in Salford has been approved by the city’s Planning and Transportation Regulatory Panel. |
Councils key to New Towns success, say peers
10/27/2025 Councils must have a key role to make a success of the New Towns programme, peers have urged. |
Ministers seek 'holding direction' powers
10/14/2025 The Government is seeking to gain more powers to prevent councils refusing planning permission. |
Decision on Chinese embassy plans to be delayed
10/13/2025 The UK Government is reportedly set to postpone its final decision on the Chinese Government’s proposed new embassy near the Tower of London. |
Council greenlights John Lewis rental home project
10/10/2025 John Lewis’ plans to deliver 170 new homes in Reading have been unanimously supported by the council. |
New Towns report: 'stars align' for mayors
10/9/2025 Mayors are set to take more prominent roles in planning matters, a think-tank has said. |
Planning delays and costs hit small home builders
10/8/2025 SME home builders are facing mounting barriers on small sites, with planning delays, rising costs, and new levies threatening their viability, report warns. |
Councils face 10 house building hurdles, report says
10/6/2025 Rising costs, skills shortages, and complex regulation are among the key challenges faced by local authorities when it comes to delivering new houses. |
Four in five major grey belt housing appeals allowed
10/2/2025 Four in five major residential planning appeals on grey belt land have been approved since the Government’s policy came into force in 2024, analysis finds. |
Oxfordshire councils told to scrap joint housing plan
10/2/2025 Two Oxfordshire councils have been told to withdraw their joint local plan due to concerns there was not enough cooperation with Oxford City Council. |
Town Centre Regeneration: Funding, Investment, and Strategy
9/29/2025 Emma Lloyd, partner in the property team at Anthony Collins, explores how local authorities can turn town centres into thriving hubs once again. |
Gwynedd to appeal court block on second homes clampdown
9/29/2025 Gwynedd Council is preparing to launch an appeal after losing a legal challenge to its clampdown on second homes. |
Labour conference: Reed reveals 12 new town sites
9/29/2025 Housing secretary Steve Reed has revealed the location of 12 new towns as part of his pledge to ‘build, baby, build'. |
Planning recruitment at risk as apprenticeship funding cuts bite
9/25/2025 Thirty-three organisations across planning, housing, nature, and energy are urging the Government to provide £7m to recruit and train apprentice planners. |
Council decides gorilla statue must go
9/10/2025 Wakefield Council has instructed a resident to take down a 4ft gorilla statue outside her property. |
Epping Forest suffers legal blow
9/3/2025 Epping Forest DC has remained defiant in its opposition to use of The Bell Hotel for asylum accommodation despite a further legal setback. |
Councils call for restrictions on office-to-home conversions
9/1/2025 Local authority leaders are calling on the Government to limit office-to-residential conversions, warning they are undermining affordable housing delivery. |
Rayner faces legal challenge over AI data centre on green belt
8/21/2025 Legal action has been launched challenging Angela Rayner’s decision to approve a major data centre on green belt land. |
A Local Ruling with National Consequences
8/20/2025 The Epping Forest asylum hotel case exposes a planning problem far bigger than Essex, says Faraz Baber, Chief Operating Officer at Lanpro. |
Devolution Revolution: Solving the Data Deficit
8/19/2025 Jonathan Marwood, Partner at Hartnell Taylor Cook, explains why robust real estate data is essential for devolution, housing delivery, and regeneration. |
Housing plan prompts backlash from Sunderland A.F.C
8/13/2025 Sunderland A.F.C has announced plans to object to Sunderland City Council’s housing development proposals. |
Residents want more say in new town development plans, survey reveals
8/13/2025 A survey has revealed that 73% of people don’t feel confident that the Government’s new towns scheme will fulfil future ‘community needs’. |
Planning reform proposals could deliver thousands of new homes
8/4/2025 New think tank report urges rapid local planning changes to boost housing supply and support council-led development |
Council planning blunder stalls Jamie Oliver bakery
8/1/2025 The plans of the celebrity chef Jamie Oliver to turn a former stable block at his historic home into a bakery have been delayed after a council blunder. |
Council hit with concerns about AI data centre proposals
7/29/2025 A council has received objections to development plans for an AI data centre due to concerns about water supply. |
Private allotment site receives council approval
7/24/2025 North Somerset Council has provided planning permission for a private allotment site in Abbots Leigh. |
Majority of rural councils have no social housing targets
7/16/2025 Only one in five rural local authorities have planning targets for building new social homes despite a shortage of new houses in rural areas. |
Skyscraper proposals spark concern amongst residents
7/15/2025 Salford City Council is set to discuss proposals for the third tallest skyscraper in the UK. |
Brum councillors reject plan to demolish Bull Ring
7/7/2025 Councillors on Birmingham City Council's planning committee have rejected proposals to demolish the historic Bull Ring Indoor Market. |
Council warned against gas well project proposals
7/7/2025 Environmental group Friends of the Earth (FoE) has urged North Yorkshire Council to oppose a gas well planning application. |
EXCLUSIVE: Government turns to councils for extra building inspector capacity
6/30/2025 The Government has turned to councils for extra building inspector capacity as high-rise housing projects continue to be dogged by regulatory hold-ups. |
Creating a lasting legacy through a RIBA Design Competition
6/24/2025 Kingston Uni needed to meet educational needs and make students feel welcome when designing their Town House building, so they turned to RIBA. |
Chinese embassy plans supported by Planning Inspectorate
6/23/2025 Plans for a new Chinese embassy development at the Royal Mint Court have been backed by the Planning Inspectorate. |
Housing target threatened by planning officer shortage, says UNISON
6/16/2025 The Government’s efforts to boost affordable housing could be derailed if the shortage of planning officers in England is not addressed, UNISON warns. |
Mapping successful 15-minute cities
6/11/2025 Is GIS the difference between success and failure for 15-minute neighbourhoods? Alex Zirpolo, principal GIS consultant at Lanpro, argues it is. |
Call for strengthening oversight of developer contributions system
6/6/2025 Weaknesses in developer contributions system intended to fund affordable housing are undermining the councils' ability to negotiate with developers, NAO says. |
Housebuilders call for ‘meaningful action’ on planning staff crisis
6/5/2025 The association representing housebuilders in England and Wales has called on the Government to tackle the staffing shortage in local planning authorities. |
Government makes EV chargepoints more accessible to drivers
5/30/2025 Drivers could save thousands each year following new electric vehicle (EV) chargepoint regulations. |
John Lewis wins approval for plan to build 430 homes
5/28/2025 The John Lewis Partnership’s largest build-to-rent project has been given the go ahead in West London despite objections from the local council. |
Government proposes easing environmental protections to boost housing
5/28/2025 The Government has announced a raft of reforms aimed at easing planning regulations and environmental protections to support smaller housebuilders in England. |
New housebuilding rules to offset ‘years of inaction’
5/23/2025 Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner tells housebuilders to ‘get on and build’ as the Government introduces delivery timeframes for developers. |
Ministers accused of 'centralising zeal'
5/20/2025 Ministers have been accused of ‘taking away decision-making powers from local people' in a new amendment to its Planning and Infrastructure Bill. |
Judge rules in favour of campaigner in Battle for Brockwell
5/16/2025 A judge has ruled in favour of a campaigner who took legal action against Lambeth Council to stop it allowing the use of a local park for festivals. |
Council’s anti-slavery policy used to fight solar farm
5/12/2025 Locals opposed to a solar panel project on the Hampshire-Berkshire border are attempting to stop it by arguing it could breach anti-slavery commitments. |
Call for caution over land value capture reform
4/24/2025 Experts have urged against wholesale reform of developer contributions, despite the flaws within the current system. |
Horsham challenges local plan decision
4/23/2025 Horsham District Council has complained to the planning inspectorate after its local plan was rejected. |
Councils click into the future of planning
4/22/2025 In town halls across the country, planning officers are racing to update their Local Plans — but this time, the process looks very different. |
Council spends £220k demolishing ‘man cave’
4/22/2025 Forest of Dean District Council was forced to spend £220,000 demolishing an illegally built leisure complex belonging to a millionaire. |
Council plans major repairs to Victorian-era bridge
4/14/2025 Leicester City Council has submitted a planning application for major repairs to the Victorian-era Rialto Bridge. |
Minister blocks Oldham exit from development plan
4/10/2025 Oldham MBC's attempt to exit an agreement that could see the development of 11,500 new homes has been stymied by the Government. |
Luton Airport expansion gets the green light
4/4/2025 The Government has signed off on the expansion of Luton Airport despite concerns about the environmental impact and a predicted increase in noise pollution. |
Local planning authorities working to out-of-date plans
4/1/2025 Two-thirds of local planning authorities (LPAs) outside of London are working to out-of-date research plans, new analysis has revealed. |
Council warns against ‘ploughing ahead’ with Stansted expansion
3/11/2025 Hertfordshire County Council has warned that plans to expand Stansted airport would lead to an increase in noise and air pollution for local residents. |
CCN: Planning legislation would ‘dilute’ local oversight
3/11/2025 Legislation aimed at speeding up planning decisions would ‘dilute’ the role of councillors on planning committees, warns the County Council Network (CCN). |
Council green lights multi-billion-pound data centre
3/6/2025 Plans for a multi-billion-pound data centre are a step closer to being realised after the local authority granted the proposals planning permission. |
Close planning loophole to save pubs, campaigners say
3/3/2025 Campaigners have written to Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner urging her to back calls for a change in the planning laws to protect pubs. |
Planning breaches uncovered at £6m mansion
3/3/2025 North Norfolk DC has launched an investigation after it was alleged the owners of a £6m house had built a pool and tennis court without planning permission. |
Local plans ‘overhaul’ announced
2/28/2025 The Government has announced an ‘overhaul’ of the local plan process in a bid to speed up development. |
Is enough being done to meet the 1.5m housing target?
2/28/2025 Jonathan Pearson, director of Residentially, asks if the Government is doing enough to meet its 1.5 million new homes target. |
Council to approve statue of rock legend Lemmy
2/25/2025 Stoke-on-Trent City Council's cabinet is set to sign off today on a statue of rock legend Motorhead frontman Lemmy. |
Developers leave 1.4 million homes unbuilt
2/14/2025 Councils have given planning permission for more than 1.4 million homes since 2007 that have not been built, research has found. |
Council green lights Spurs park plans
2/13/2025 Enfield councillors have approved an application from Tottenham Hotspur for a new women’s training facility in a public park. |
Data reveals council areas with most fast food outlets
2/12/2025 The London borough of Camden has more fast food outlets per resident than any other local authority area in England, according to new analysis. |
