Government acts to save lapsed planning consents
The government is to extend planning permissions this week, as part of a raft of measures designed to support the construction industry.
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Consented sites with an expiry date between the start of lockdown and the end of 2020 will see their consent extended to 1 April 2021.
According to government estimates, this could save more than 400 residential permissions providing more than 24,000 new homes from expiring during 23 March – 30 June alone.
Developers will not have to submit new applications where permission expires during this timeframe, reducing time delays and costs for all parties involved.
Planning permission usually expires after three years if work has not started onsite.
However, Knight Frank partner and head of town planning, Stuart Baillie, said the time extension is “not very generous”. He added: “I would prefer to have seen greater flexibility with a full 12 months or even 24 months added to the expiry date of the original consent. Clearly the government is intent on pushing industry to deliver construction and in particular new homes but we are yet to understand the full economic impact of Covid-19 on businesses, market demand, labour supply, and construction costs, which is unlikely to be understood until we are well into 2021.”
This week, the government will also allow builders to negotiate more flexible working hours with their local councils for a temporary period.
But Baillie said extending construction working hours could prove “unwelcome”.
“It may help speed up delivery and potentially assist with reduced capacity for transport to and from construction sites, but it is likely to be challenged by Local Planning Authorities and local residents. We have all experienced Skype calls to home workers being disrupted by loud construction work in the background and suggesting that such activity can continue into the evening and over weekends will certainly be unwelcome in predominantly residential areas.”
Additionally, the government is preparing to introduce new measures to speed up the pace of planning appeals. The government plans to bring in new laws to permanently grant the Planning Inspectorate the ability to use more than one procedure - written representations, hearings and inquiries - at the same time when handling a planning appeal, allowing appeals to happen much faster.