The Housing and Planning Bill has survived the Commons and will now undergo scrutiny in the Lords…
The controversial Housing and Planning Bill is set to move from the Commons to the House of Lords after completing the third reading phase.
The bill, which has been heavily criticised by the opposition, saw no successful resistance against the proposed legislation and as such will now head to the House of Lords to start the first reading.
The bill focuses on removing many of the barriers in the planning system to ensure more homes can be built, particularly relating to brownfield land and compulsory purchases. It is seen as controversial as it aims to bring in starter homes for first time buyers, which many say will end social housing.
Planning Minister Brandon Lewis said it was “an historic bill in many ways. It will put homeownership within the grasp of generations that have only dreamed for many years that it could be possible. It will deliver a planning system that is the envy of the world. It will get Britain building again.”
However, Labour MP John Healey said the legislation was “ a bad bill; it is now a very bad bill, made much worse by amendments forced through at the last minute after the Committee’s line-by-line scrutiny”.
He added: “The bill sounds the death knell for social housing. Starter homes will be built in place of affordable council and housing association homes, both to buy and to rent.
“Councils will be forced to sell their best properties and housing associations will not replace many of their right-to-buy sales with like-for-like homes. “
Healey said over the next five years at least 180,000 affordable homes to rent and buy would be lost. He also said an eleventh-hour amendment to ensure the proceeds from the sale of vacant high-value asset are used to provide affordable homes in London was questionable.
“We have tried to stop the worst of the plans, but Tory ministers and back benchers have opposed our proposals to give local areas the flexibility to promote not just starter homes but homes of all types, depending on local housing need; to make starter homes more affordable and protect and recycle taxpayers’ investment; to allow local areas to protect council and housing association homes with a proper replacement of each; to limit any automatic planning permission from ministers for brownfield land; and to protect stable family homes for council tenants,” he said.
Changes to the bill would also give the Communities Secretary the power to direct local authorities to dispose of surplus land. It would also prevent the enforcement of affordable housing obligations.
Additionally, the clauses mean a pilot scheme could be carried out that would allow applicants to choose whether to submit a planning application to the planning authority or to an alternative provider for processing. Lewis said the final decision of the application would remain with the planning authority, but the plan has caused concern among Labour opposition.
MP Helen Hayes said the pilot would “weaken the accountability of local planning services”.
Planning expert Helen Stewart of Pinsent Masons said: “Developers will welcome the proposed dispute resolution mechanism as an alternative to appeal against non-determination.
“This, and the government’s proposals for the disposal of surplus public sector land, has led to this being seen as a developer’s bill.”
“Much of the industry reaction has, unsurprisingly, focused on the proposed introduction of ‘alternative providers’ into the planning process, widely denounced as the ‘privatisation of planning’.
“Viewed as fundamentally undemocratic by many, critics are calling instead for increased funds to enable local planning authorities to meet capacity requirements themselves rather than outsourcing to the private sector.
“Whether these concerns are justified remains to be seen as the Bill sets out an indicative framework with much of the crucial detail to be determined.
“We are assured that only the processing of planning applications is to be outsourced, with the actual determination of the application itself remaining solely with the local planning authority. But what precisely is envisaged by ‘processing’?”
She added: “However, we must remember that local planning authorities have for years outsourced elements of work to the private sector to ease capacity and have successfully navigated issues of conflict of interest. Historically, privatisation has taught us that competition leads to innovation and it is possible that this will lead to new products and solutions which will ultimately benefit local planning authorities.”
The bill will now move into the first reading in the House of Lords. Full details of the bill can be found here: The Housing and Planning Bill.