Select committee: Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee
Recommendation 19
First Report - The future of the planning system in England
Published 10 Jun 2021
Paragraph 136
Addressed to Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee The future of the planning system in England All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
We support ensuring that the additional housing being built includes affordable and social housing. There should also be support and encouragement for local authorities to deliver specialist housing, particularly for elderly and people with disabilities. The Government should create a C2R class for retirement communities to ensure clarity in the planning process. There should be a statutory obligation that Local Plans identify sites for specialist housing. We repeat our recommendation in our 2020 social housing report that the Government should publish annual net addition targets for the following tenures over the next ten years: social rent, affordable rent, intermediate rent and affordable homeownership.
From: Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee, First Report - The future of the planning system in England (HC 38), paragraph 136, 10 June 2021
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 17 May 2022 (deadline 10 August 2021).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government's response agrees with the Committee on a number of recommendations, including not pursuing the three areas proposal, while declining to extend the 30-month local plan timetable and having no plans for a national Green Belt review.
- It agrees with the recommendation on the three areas proposal and "will not be pursuing three area types in the reformed planning system".
- It "does not accept" the recommendation to extend the 30-month plan-making timeframe, stating that reforms make 30 months "achievable" and that it "will consult on the detail of these regulations in due course".
- On planning fees, it intends to increase them by 35% for major and 25% for minor applications, "subject to consultation", which it says will take place in the summer.
- On the Green Belt, it "has no plans for a national review" and says the National Planning Policy Framework's protections "will remain".