New planning rules facilitate new homes near stations

New planning rules have been introduced in England to make it easier to build new homes close to transport links, including train and tram stations.

Changes, which were introduced 17th August, will fast-track planning processes to build new homes on land within a reasonable walking distance of well-connected stations, alongside new minimum expectations for how much housing should be built in these areas.

Plans are aimed at supporting the government’s ambition to deliver 1.5 million new homes and sit alongside a number of other recent reforms to the planning system, set out under the government’s new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). These include reducing the requirements for public bodies to give sign-off on planning applications, with organisations such as Sport England and the Gardens Trust instead focusing their expertise on relevant applications where their input adds the most value.

Planning changes will also give greater protections to pubs and music venues to prevent them being lost to housing development so they can continue to remain at the centres of local communities.

In rural areas, meanwhile, measures announced last week to will make it easier for farmers and other businesses to deliver reservoirs, greenhouses, polytunnels and farm shops to support food production and local job creation.