Policy update from CE National – 26th April
Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities announce new powers to strengthen council planning
On Thursday (25 April), the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities announced new planning powers under the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act to give councils better tools to hold rogue developers to account. The measures include:
- Increasing enforcement limits from four to 10 years so councils have more time to stop developments without planning approval.
- Introducing unlimited fines against developers who fail to comply with planning permission or refuse to deal with rundown properties and overgrown fields.
- Doubling the length of temporary stop notices to 56 days to suspend all works if a council suspects building has gone ahead.
- Strengthening the Planning Inspectorate to dismiss appeals against developers trying to delay process, including refusal of site visits and access.
Renters’ Reform Bill passes without a timeframe for banning no-fault evictions
On Wednesday (24 April), the House of Commons voted through the Renters’ Reform Bill. This included a clause which indefinitely delays the outlawing of Section 21 notices until a review of the courts system has taken place. Section 21 notices allow landlords to evict tenants without providing a reason, and the review of the courts system is argued to be needed on the grounds that there will be an influx of court cases if Section 21s are banned.
Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities publishes official statistics for development on EPCs in England and Wales from January to March 2024
On Thursday (25 April), the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities published official statistics on the development on Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) for January to March 2024. Findings include 453,000 EPCs in England being lodged on the Energy Performance of Buildings Register for both domestic and non-domestic properties, a 4% decrease compared to the same quarter in 2023. The number of EPCs for new dwellings in England (56,000) saw a 3% increase, while the number of existing domestic EPCs (350,000) saw a 2% decrease compared to the same quarter last year.
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