S.106 agreements
Simon Ricketts, a partner in TownLegal, has published an article on the time taken to complete agreements on community investment by S.106 before development permission is granted. He points to a Home Builders Federation (HBF) report that the timescale was over 500 days in 2024-25. In that year, 45% of LPAs had agreements finalised that had taken over 1,000 days to complete.
The HBF makes five recommendations for improving the situation.
Simon Ricketts concludes in his blog that it is now substantially quicker to secure a decision by way of appeal than by waiting for a final decision from the local planning authority.
High Street Rental Auctions
Councils are empowered to take action where landlords have not taken sufficient steps to rent property by auctioning off leases on premises that have been vacant for more than a year and granting local businesses and community groups the ‘right to rent’ empty commercial lots at market prices.
The Government has updated guidance on the way auctions should be conducted, as here.
Illegal e-bikes
There is a comprehensive road.cc report on comments by Chris Boardman, the Active Travel England chief, on the problem of illegal e-bikes being able to be purchased easily, with associated dangers.
Mr Boardman said “Some of it is a trading standards problem, that we have got illegal and non-certified products coming into our market and people have said that they will buy batteries, chargers and bikes online if it’s cheaper, and they don’t mind if it’s non-brand.… Read more...
Councillor remote attendance and proxy voting
The Government consulted last year on this subject and following considerations of the responses has decided to proceed as in their statement of 5th June 2025 here. On remote attendance, DHCLG plans to permit local authorities to develop their own locally appropriate policies, if they decide to hold remote meetings. On proxy voting for meetings of the full council, DHCLG plans to require principal (unitary, upper and second-tier) councils to implement proxy voting schemes, to provide consistency for members who are absent.… Read more...
Right of Appeal
People should be able to challenge a planning decision other than through the Courts. London Forum members are asked to contact their MP promptly and urge them to support two proposed new clauses NC37 and NC38 for the Planning and Infrastructure Bill to be debated from Monday 9th June 2025. They would create a Third-party Right of Appeal where a local authority approves a development not in accord with the Local Plan. A control is that the Secretary of State may dismiss an appeal if it is vexatious, frivolous or without substance, as London Forum had suggested.… Read more...
Reforming Planning Committees
The Government could transfer decision-making power from Councillors to an un-elected planning officer on what applications are considered at committee. Conservation areas would not be protected. A Technical consultation here is open until 23rd July covering decision delegation, size and composition of planning committees and mandatory training. Two tiers of planning applications are proposed. For Tier A, “minor” developments and those up to 9 dwellings would be delegated to officers but in London that could be increased to 49 dwellings.… Read more...
The Freedom Pass, its Impact and Costs
London’s Freedom Pass was introduced in 1973, and it has had a profound impact on the lives of Londoners, particularly, of course, those with a disability and those over state-pensionable age. But its very success may cast its future into doubt as the numbers and proportions of older people among London’s residents continues to increase, and as fares rise ahead of inflation.
Eligibility
Eligibility has changed somewhat over the years. Until April 2010, the pass was available to any London resident over the age of 60.… Read more...
Will the next London Plan rise to the city’s real challenges?
This article was first published in Housing Today.
Ben Derbyshire reflects on Sadiq Khan’s latest policies to boost housebuilding in the capital.
You could be forgiven for thinking, following Sadiq Khan’s volte face on building in the green belt, that Londoners would be all over this issue like a rash. Far from it, if the mood among members of the London Society and the London Forum of Amenity and Civic Societies at a meeting convened on 13 May is anything to go by.… Read more...
Chief Planner’s update
The MHCLG Chief Planner, Johanna Averley (pictured), has issued a newsletter to local authority planners. It covers a Modernised Planning Committees consultation and speeding up build-out with Completion Notices, a Delayed Homes Penalty and Compulsory Purchase Orders, as in a recent Working Paper and Technical Consultation.
The Government proposed Planning and Infrastructure Bill amendments to remove the statutory requirement to consult in the pre-application stage for NSIP applications.
DEFRA is consulting on options for how Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) should be applied and MHCLG issued a related Working Paper on making the planning system fairer for SME builders.… Read more...
Simplifying decisions
As London Forum reported, the Planning & Infrastructure Bill includes delegating planning decisions. The Government has issued a 15 question Working Paper consultation for
- Simplifying decisions for schemes below 10 homes to help small and medium builders (SMEs)
- Introducing a medium-sized site threshold up to 49 homes
There is another working paper on ‘Speeding up Build-out’ and for major developments, the Government is considering options for a mixed tenure development threshold at 500 units. Views on the right threshold are sought in this ‘Simplifying Decisions’ Working Paper.… Read more...
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