The Government has published its response to the Independent Review of Administrative Law (IRAL) that was launched in July 2020, which examined whether there is a need for reform of judicial review. No radical changes to the...more
The new London Plan 2021 was adopted on 2 March, four years after its first inception. During the plan making process it came under much central government scrutiny and criticism....more
The recent appeal decision in Hillside Parks Limited v Snowdonia National Park Authority [2020]1 has led some to question whether the established rules around ‘drop-in’ permissions have been curtailed; some authors query...more
The long awaited Planning White Paper was finally published on 6 August 2020 for consultation which, as promised, proposes radical changes to the current planning system that are not short of ambition.
This is not the...more
The introduction of a new ‘broad’ use class aimed at revitalising town centres was announced by Robert Jenrick MP in early July 2020 and follows a 2018/2019 consultation on measures to support high streets.
This week the...more
The Government yesterday published its Business and Planning Bill. The Bill includes an assortment of measures to support businesses as the country transitions from lockdown into recovery, including the introduction of new...more
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
MHCLG has confirmed that all planning permissions due to expire during the lockdown period will be extended until 1 April 2021. In this blog we examine the details of this announcement....more
Planning reform is once again back in the spotlight and is expected to play a central role in the UK’s economic recovery from the Covid crisis. Although we do not know the nature of the reforms at this stage, there is much...more
The Government’s immediate planning response to the coronavirus pandemic taking hold in the UK focussed on ensuring that planning committee meetings could continue and take place remotely and on the introduction of some...more
The Scottish Parliament introduced emergency legislation in the form of the Coronavirus (Scotland) Bill on 31 March 2020 to mitigate some of the impacts of Covid 19 in Scotland. The Bill received Royal Assent on 6 April 2020....more
We have had a number of landlord and tenant clients reaching out to us requesting guidance on the consequences of the current Covid-19 outbreak and the announcement that cafés, bars, restaurants and pubs need to close, hot on...more
In response to the coronavirus outbreak in the UK the Government has announced a new temporary permitted development that will allow pubs and restaurants to trade as hot food takeaways without needing planning permission for...more
MHCLG published some of its proposals for planning reform in its ‘Planning for the Future’ statement on 12 March 2020, which largely builds on the Conservative Manifesto 2019 promises. However, more measures for reform are on...more
The Whitehall and Industry Group conference on infrastructure, entitled a ‘cross sector perspective’ was held on 13th March and brought together Government, the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC), and public and private...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