Cutting costs and red tape for businesses

10,000 fewer planning applications in the system and cash for councils to help deliver homes.

Housing and Planning Minister John Healey today confirmed further reforms to the planning system, removing around 10,000 full applications to cut costs and red tape for businesses, saving up to £43 million a year.

Mr Healey also confirmed the final grant allocations for councils from the £135m fund to support councils in planning and building more homes. The Housing and Planning Delivery Grant (HPDG) funding, pledged in December last year, acts as an incentive to strengthen councils' responses to local housing pressures by using the most efficient planning procedures.
The confirmation of reforms to the planning system, consulted on last year and recommended in the Killian Pretty Review, will remove 10,000 full planning applications from the system and allow industrial premises, offices, shops and schools to quickly and easily undertake minor developments without the need for planning permission - saving both time and money.

Shops will now be able to extend their floor space up to 50 square metres without the need to apply for planning permission and schools, hospitals and universities will be able to build new facilities. These extensions will still be subject to certain caveats to avoid any negative impacts on neighboring properties and the environment.

These changes form a series of updates in response to the Killian Pretty Review, which when fully introduced will save up to £180m a year for developers.