More land is to be freed up in England to build new homes with a register of derelict and underused land being drawn up for house builders.
Local authorities across the country will be required to produce and maintain up to date, publicly available registers of brownfield sites available for housing locally so that builders and developers can identify sites quickly.
Housing and Planning Minister Gavin Barwell said that communities will be able to highlight local derelict or underused building sites that are primed for redevelopment which can bring investment to the area and increase the number of new homes in the area.
As set out in the recently published Housing White Paper, the registers are part of the Government’s ambitious programme to speed up house building, promote brownfield sites for development and release land to deliver many more new homes.
‘We need to build more homes in this country so making sure that we re-use brownfield land is crucial. We want to bring life back to abandoned sites, create thousands more homes and help protect our valued countryside,’ Barwell pointed out.
He explained that the new registers will give local authorities and developers the tools to do this and in addition the £3 billion Home Builders Fund will be used to support the development of brownfield sites, with an additional £1.2 billion provided to unlock at least 30,000 Starter Homes on brownfield land.
The Government has also introduced a new way of obtaining planning permission through these new registers which Barwell said will make it easier for developers to deliver housing in the places where people want to live.
‘Permission in principle’ will simplify the planning process for developers. It will give them more certainty over whether a site is suitable for development ahead of working up costly proposals to obtain full planning permission. This will encourage new development and increase the amount of land available to build on, helping to boost housing supply.
Further legislation will follow this year to roll-out ‘permission in principle’ more widely through the planning system.
The regulations implementing brownfield registers and permission in principle through brownfield registers have been laid in Parliament as part of secondary legislation relating to the Housing and Planning Act. They will come into force 21 days after being laid.
Statutory guidance for local authorities will follow to explain the role of brownfield registers and permission in principle in more detail.
