Government targets new homes around commuter hubs

The government has pledged to make it easier for housing to be built around train stations as part of planning reforms to target 1.5 million homes.

In a joint announcement yesterday, the Treasury and the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) announced what they described as a “major new growth push”.

They said that when developers submit an application for “acceptable” types of schemes in key areas, such as areas of high housing potential near transport hubs, the default answer to development is “yes”.

A spokesperson added: “This will unlock more housing at a greater density in areas central to local communities, boosting the government’s number one mission to grow the economy.

“These measures will transform communities, with more shops and homes nearer to the transport hubs that working people rely on day in, day out.”

A spokesperson said the government is working with Greater Manchester Combined Authority to release land around transport hubs through local development orders, such as around Castleton Station in Rochdale.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is championing plans to regenerate Old Trafford in Manchester, including a 100,000-seat capacity stadium for Manchester United.

A spokesperson said the project “will see new housing, commercial and public space as a shining example of the bold pro-development model that will drive growth across the region, with authorities exploring setting up a mayoral development corporation body to redevelop the area”.

The government also reiterated that it is looking to streamline decisions on critical infrastructure projects by “slashing red tape” in the planning system which is holding up projects. It will look at input from expert bodies which developers are required to consult and replace current systems of environmental assessment.

Reeves said: “Too often the answer to new development has been ‘no’. But that is the attitude that has stunted economic growth and left working people worse off. We need to do things differently and that journey began as soon as I started at the Treasury in July. These are our next steps, and I can say for certain, there is more to come.”

Ministers have previously announced they are looking at plans to create a new fund as a way for developers to meet their environmental obligations in a bid to boost housebuilding.

Currently, developers often have to establish mitigation measures for environmental harm on individual schemes before they are granted planning permission. The government hopes its new Natural Restoration Fund will allow development to continue at pace while providing funds for natural recovery.

The announcements yesterday are just the latest in a swathe of planning system changes announced by ministers that are designed to boost housing and infrastructure.

Earlier this month, ministers announced plans to speed up the construction of major infrastructure projects by reducing the ability of activists to challenge them in the courts.

>>See also: ’This is a growth story’… How Network Rail plans to become one of the UK’s biggest housebuilders

>>See also: The 1.5 million-home question: Does the government’s planning reform programme add up?

Keir Starmer said proposals to be included in the upcoming Planning and Infrastructure Bill will “take on the NIMBYs and a broken system that has slowed down our progress as a nation”.

The new planning rules would mean schemes such as nuclear power plants, trainlines, roads and wind farms would not be delayed by a “challenge culture”, the prime minister said.

This follows the publication before Christmas of the finalised National Planning Policy Framework, which overhauls the planning system. Under the changes, mandatory local housing targets are restored, a new formula introduced to set out councils’ housing need and local authorities will be required to undertake green belt reviews where they do not have enough land to meet housing need, prioritising previously developed and then “grey belt” sites.

In December the government published a working paper on measures to bypass local planning committees when developments comply with local plans and national guidance.