The Government’s new White Paper has been published today (6th August) and is open for a 12 week consultation period.

Levelling the failure to meet targets, unnecessary red tape and artificial constraints squarely at the feet of the planning system, the White Paper seeks to level the foundations and build, from the ground up, a whole new planning system for England, with Boris Johnson promising, of the current system, to tear it down and start again.

The ambitious targets are set out across the 43 page document, with key reforms as follows:

• Local Authorities to classify land for Growth, Renewal or Protection;
• Development management policies established at a national level;
• Local Plan process to be speeded up, requiring just a single sustainable development test
• Abolishing CIL and s106 and replacement with a national levy, to better capture the uplift in land value and contributions from PDR;
• Publication of a National Model Design Code and requirement for local authorities to adopt their own design codes;
• More homes to be built at gentle densities in and around town centres and high streets, on brownfield land and near existing infrastructure;
• Shorter and more standardised applications, with the 8 and 13 week targets being firm deadlines;
• Potential for automatic refund of application fee if timescale targets not met;
• Masterplanning to identify different types of development across large sites to encourage multiple phase build out by multiple parties;
• Increased emphasis on self-build and custom homes; and - Adoption of a new NPPF. The full document can be viewed on the following link: Click here to view link