Planning Reform: More homes

On Wednesday 1 July 2020, Boris Johnson, unveiled plans for the:

"most radical reforms to our planning system since the Second World War, making it easier to build better homes where people want to live”.

These changes are expected to come into effect in September.

Much of the announcement anticipates further reform of the permitted development regime, to allow the following without the need for planning permission:

Changing the use of retail floorspace to other uses

Expanding the types of commercial premises that can be converted to residential

The redevelopment of “vacant and redundant” sites into housing

Upward extensions

In addition:

Over the next 8 years, the government will spend £12 billion to build up to 180,000 new affordable houses

The Home Builders Fund will receive an additional £450m to help smaller developers access finance for new housing developments

All of the above are intended to boost the economy, redress the housing shortage and effectively repurpose and bring back to life many high streets.

This is clearly very welcome news but of course, the devil is in the detail. We look forward to following and sharing news on this exciting development with you over the coming months.

Developers, Investor, Architect - Initial Reactions

Listen to this interesting discussion between developers, investors and and an architect about their reactions to Boris Johnsons' news, here.

Are you a developer?

If you are a developer, what is your reaction to this news? What opportunities will this raise for you?

If you are about to embark on your next development, take a moment to pause and reflect on how you can add value to your development so you maximise your GDV. One sure way to do this is through staging, in all its forms.