Planning
Planning stability will drive housebuilding growth
Joe Ridgeon says as we wrestle with a protracted housing crisis, ‘braver and brighter new thinking and adopting land reform can surely offer one possible way forward’.
Help to Buy and the future of demand
John Keyes says the housing industry has a collective responsibility to prepare for Help to Buy’s discontinuation and councils are a key part of this as policy makers and increasingly as a direct provider of homes.
280,000 approved homes not completed
The number of planning permissions granted far outweighs the number of completions, according to new research.
Herts and Veolia end incinerator contract
A contract between Hertfordshire CC and Veolia to build an incinerator has been terminated after repeatedly failing to gain planning permission.
What an opportunity for a housing minister to be radical and bold
Paul O'Brien says there needs to be a wider recognition at a central and local level of the linkages between place-making and the delivery of homes in terms of health and wellbeing, life chances and local economies.
Children's services, adult social care top list of complaints
Most complaints about councils received by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGO) in 2018/19 concerned education, children’s services and adult social care.
Collaboration is the default way in Herts
Broxbourne BC and Hertfordshire CC are moving towards final approval process on a £400m scheme to create a new town centre at Brookfield Riverside. Scott Crudgington and Jeff Stack discuss the key elements of the close collaboration.
Reducing the risks from transition
The May local elections returned significant numbers of new councillors including new single issue groups. Abdool Kara examines the role of chief executives in actively managing the transition.
Can we have both quality and quantity in new homes?
Michael Burton asks: 'Is it any wonder that the public are suspicious of the planning system when they see little benefit other than shoddy new estates and overloaded public services?'
Trust in planners 'almost non-existent'
Public trust in councils to make planning decisions in the best interests of communities is ‘almost non-existent,’ research has found.
Non-metropolitan councils need the power to tackle barriers to growth
The Post-Brexit England Commission’s final report has set out a prospectus to Government of ‘tangible, practical proposals’ with the potential to ‘make a difference to local communities quickly’.
Worthing agrees modular housing deal with Swedish firm
A Swedish modular homebuilder has secured its first agreement in the UK for a decade with Worthing BC.
Brexit should not be an excuse for avoiding domestic issues
The next PM should increase council funding, build homes where they are needed and improve urban transport, according to Andrew Carter.
'Radical shake-up' for planning
The Scottish Government has hailed a ‘radical shake-up’ after the passing of the Planning Bill yesterday.
Underground movements
Diary imagines that local government in the Stone Age would have been concerned with the likes of stone tool licensing and providing cave housing.
Choices, choices...
Ray Lee says councils are expected to ‘exhaust every avenue’ to meet their housing needs figure. But Elmbridge BC had thousands of green belt objections following its first Regulation 18 consultation, creating a hard to ignore political mandate.
Driving ahead with digitisation
A digital transformation programme has led to identified savings of more than £580,000 over 10 years at Craven DC, says Paul Shevlin.
Planning permission for council sports centre quashed
Elmbridge BC may be forced to demolish its multi-million pound sports hub after a High Court judge ruled it was granted planning permission unlawfully.
Rebalancing the planning relationship
John Fuller is looking forward to seeing if housing minister Kit Malthouse's hints translate into solutions contained in the expected accelerated planning Green Paper.
Labour report calls for radical tax and planning reforms
Replacing council tax and business rates are among the radical policies proposed in a report commissioned by the Labour Party.