Bill brings in reform to planning committees
The Planning and Infrastructure Bill was set before Parliament this week, containing measures which – according to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) – bring “transformative” reform to “get Britain building, tackle blockers and unleash billions in economic growth”.
Key features of the Bill include:
- Determining the size of planning committees to eliminate “large and unwieldy” groups
- Allowing local authorities to set their own planning fees
- Clarifying which applications should be determined by officers, and which should go to committee
- Establishing a Nature Restoration Fund, paid into by developers
- Introducing a system of “strategic planning”, looking across multiple planning authorities for “sustainable areas to build”
Removing blockages, speeding up the decision-making process and ensuring local planning departments have the capacity to process applications effectively will be essential to getting more sites up and running.
If the other constraints currently preventing house builders delivering more homes can be tackled, the changes made to planning will really allow output to accelerate.
Neil Jefferson, CEO, Home Builders Federation
The Government also announced a consultation to review of the role of statutory consultees in planning decisions, removing bodies such as Sport England, Theatres Trust and The Gardens Trust to improve process efficiency.
MHCLG added that the current list of statutory consultees had “grown haphazardly” over time to more than 25 organisations.
Construction output falls in January
Official data from the Office for National Statistics has revealed that monthly construction output in Great Britain fell by -0.2% in January, following a decrease of -0.2% in December 2024.
The decrease in monthly output came solely from a -0.7% fall in new work, offset slightly by an increase in repair and maintenance.
Private housing new work fell by -1.8% in the month, with anecdotal evidence from survey returns indicating that inclement weather impacted output.
Persimmon returns to growth in 2024
Volume housebuilder Persimmon has enjoyed an increase in completions, profit and outlets in 2024, when compared to 2023.
The firm issued its full year results for the year ending 31 December 2024, seeing completions rise by 7% to 10,664 homes. Pre-tax profit rose 10% to £395.1m, and outlets rose by 5% against 2023, to 270.
Persimmon has said it is targeting 11,000 to 11,500 completions in 2025.
Meanwhile, the Berkeley Group is on course to achieve at least £975m of pre-tax profit over the next two years, in a trading update for the period from 01 November 2024 to 28 February 2025.
However, the firm stated that it was concerned “by the impact of the extent and pace of regulatory changes of recent years”, and the introduction of the Building Safety Levy later this year.
Brickwork firm Forterra also sounded a warning around price rises in the coming months.
The manufacturer said trading in January and February was picking up, but noted an increase in costs following last autumn’s Budget.
Housing View 