The much trailed Planning and Infrastructure Bill introduced to Parliament on 11 March covers wide ranging changes to the conventional planning process, CPO, development corporations and infrastructure planning....more
3/17/2025
/ Affordable Housing ,
Environmental Policies ,
Housing Developers ,
Infrastructure ,
New Legislation ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Real Estate Development ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Strategic Planning ,
Sustainability ,
UK ,
Urban Planning & Development
This Insight summarises the Planning aspirations of the Conservative, Labour and the Liberal Democrat manifestos for the UK’s 2024 election. Their shared focus is on housing, energy infrastructure and battling climate change....more
The Supreme Court’s judgment in R(Finch) v Surrey County Council [2024] UKSC 20 has potentially significant implications on how environmental impacts of major projects are assessed. The question at the heart of the case was...more
Reducing the embodied carbon in the built environment has an important role in mitigating the effects of climate change. However, there is no national planning policy that incorporates such considerations in the planning...more
One of the final amendments to the new Levelling up and Regeneration Act (“LURA”) before it gained royal assent on 26 October 2023, was to require the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to consider...more
Following compliance with the parliamentary requirements, the National Policy Statement (NPS) for water resource infrastructure was finally designated by the Environment Secretary on 18 September 2023, bringing it immediately...more
We have been closely following the emerging details of the new biodiversity net gain (BNG) regime and the emerging market for off-site BNG which is expected to come into force for most planning applications in November 2023...more
6/15/2023
/ Biodiversity ,
Brownfield Properties ,
Consultation ,
Critical Habitat ,
Environmental Policies ,
Habitat Conservation Plan ,
New Guidance ,
Property Owners ,
Real Estate Development ,
UK ,
Urban Planning & Development
The government’s consultation on the proposed new system of Environmental Outcome Reports to replace the existing environmental assessment regime, provides a clearer idea of how it is likely to work in practice. In this...more
The DEFRA consultation published this month on the scope of the biodiversity net gain regulations to be introduced under powers in the Environment Act 2021, provides developers and landowners with a much clearer indication of...more
1/21/2022
/ Biodiversity ,
Brownfield Properties ,
Consultation ,
Critical Habitat ,
Environmental Policies ,
Exemptions ,
Habitat Conservation Plan ,
Property Owners ,
Real Estate Development ,
UK ,
Urban Planning & Development
A recent High Court ruling in the case of R (Swire) v Secretary of State [2020] has highlighted the subtleties in the approach to screening decisions and particularly in the assessment of measures to mitigate the adverse...more
Measures were unveiled by the Chancellor in the Spring Statement which will be of interest to those in the development industry, particularly the announcement that the forthcoming Environment Bill will make it mandatory for...more