Pennycook confirms NPPF to be published ‘by the end of the year’
On 20th November, Minister for Housing and Planning, Matthew Pennycook MP, and Joanna Key, Director General for Regeneration, Housing and Planning at MHCLG, answered questions from the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee, chaired by Florence Eshalomi MP.
Here are the key points mentioned:
- Pennycook was ‘convinced 1.5 million homes were deliverable and essential’, but shared that, since entering government, they have realised that ‘delivering 1.5 million homes will be more difficult than we expected’, noting that the current housing supply is so constrained that it will require the full 5 years to reach the 1.5 million homes target.
- The government would not set interim annual targets, clarifying that it was a whole of Parliament target of 1.5 million homes built.
- When asked if there was a clear plan on how the government would escalate housing numbers over the next five years to reach their target, Pennycook stated their strategy would become clearer once the Spending Review next year is published.
- Pennycook stated that an overarching policy of the government will be to oversupply planning permissions in order to meet demand and ‘make more sites viable’.
- Since its creation in September, the New Homes Accelerator team has unlocked 4,700 homes.
- Regarding the construction industry, there will be a ‘whole government approach to upskilling, expanding and diversifying the construction sector’.
- Pennycook reiterated that the government wants ‘to see universal coverage of Local Plans’ and they will not hesitate to intervene on councils that are not bringing forward Local Plans.
- The Director General stated that £46 million will be allocated to councils to create greater capacity for planning and design over the next two years and it will be earmarked for planning departments only.
- Pennycook clarified the government’s Green Belt policy, reiterating they would be focusing on brownfield first but would encourage councils to strategically release ‘Grey Belt’ when they cannot meet housing targets on brownfield alone.
Pennycook was also asked what bills would be coming through in the next year that would affect planning. He stated that he is ‘determined to publish the NPPF by the end of the year and were on track to do so’ and also added the Planning and infrastructure Bill next year would ‘speed up and streamline delivery of housing across the country’.
We will be sure to keep an eye out for any news on the upcoming Planning & Infrastructure Bill and publication of the final NPPF before Christmas.
Feature Photo: UK Government, licensed under CC2.0
