Irwin Mitchell comments on the Housing Aspects of the Autumn Budget

Nicola Gooch, the Planning Partner at Irwin Mitchell, comments on and responds to the Housing Aspects of the Autumn Budget (27 October).

“Rishi Sunak has tried to present a budget focussed on investment and optimism. Many of the announcements had been widely trailed over the last few days. Perhaps the most significant ‘new’ announcement was the £4.8bn uplift in general local authority funding over the next three years – described as “the largest increase in core funding for over a decade”.

“Many of the problems in the planning system at present are a direct result of under-resourced local authorities struggling to cope with the volume of applications they face. As such, this additional funding is likely to be extremely welcome. That said, planning is not the only local authority department struggling for cash. Councils are also responsible for funding social care, education and a wide range of other local services. As such, whether any of this money makes its way to local authority planning departments will have to be seen.

“The new incentives for ‘green investment’ are also to be welcomed, however they sit uncomfortably next to announcements of major investment into our roads networks and a cut in air passenger duty for domestic flights.

“As to the funds already announced:  Regenerating brownfield land can be notoriously expensive, so the additional funds to support Councils’ remediation efforts is to be welcomed. This latest tranche of funding for brownfield land, in addition to the £400 million Brownfield Housing Fund and the £75 million Brownfield Land Release Fund, indicates that the Government may be serious about the ‘brownfield first’ pledges that Johnson made in his conference speech earlier this month.

“The £65 million of investment into the digital transformation of the planning system is also a welcome recognition that the current software relied on by council planning departments may no longer be fit for purpose. Given that this announcement follows hot on the heels of DLUHC’s  announcement that 13 Councils have been awarded a share of the £1 million PropTech Engagement Fund to pilot ‘innovative’ new digital consultation tools; it seems clear that the pledge to digitise and modernise the planning system may be one of the few proposals from last year’s Planning White Paper left standing.”

Kindly shared by Irwin Mitchell

Main photo courtesy of Pixabay