Labour on track to call in more planning applications per year than previous Conservative administrations

At the Housing Communities and Local Government Select Committee last week, Minister for Housing and Planning, Matthew Pennycook MP confirmed that the government is “on track to call in more applications per year than the previous four successive Conservative-led administrations”, accusing the previous government of making “highly political decisions”.

When questioned by Conservative MP for Broxbourne, Lewis Cocking on whether he saw “lots of planning applications being called in when they’re recommended for refusal before they’ve even been heard at local level”, Pennycook responded, “We will make full use of the intervention powers that are available to ministers where they meet the published criteria and we think there is a reason to act”.

Joanna Key, director general for regeneration, housing and planning at MHCLG confirmed that “Labour has so far called in approximately ten schemes, equating to 26 schemes a year”, since the general election.

Pennycook went on to say that the government may be looking to review the intervention criteria for calling in applications stating, “We may look to keep those criteria under review as we go forward, but as it is, there’s a very clear basis for that to happen.”

The government has already set a clear precedent for this. Earlier this month, Housing Secretary of State, Angela Rayner MP called in two applications for an 8,400-home garden village on unallocated land in Kent three hours before Swale Borough Council’s planning committee was due to consider them. The applications had been recommended for refusal by Officers.

Rayner’s last minute intervention has caused eyebrows to raise across the planning industry as it sends a clear message on how keen the government is to stick to its promise of building more homes and putting economic growth at the heart of its decisions.