On 26 October 2023, the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill 2022-23 received Royal Assent and is now known as the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 (LURA 2023). The text of LURA 2023 is not yet available and as such references in this update are based on the last published version of the Bill.

We have previously reported on the structure of the then Bill and identified the 13 parts with the aim of addressing entrenched geographic disparities across the UK.

This insight focuses on the changes the LURA will have specifically on planning and housing, with the key elements contained within Part 3 (Planning) and Part 4 (Infrastructure Levy) of LURA 2023.

What is the government trying to achieve?

Within the announcement the government proclaimed that LURA 2023 will “speed up the planning system, hold developers to account, cut bureaucracy, and encourage more councils to put in place plans to enable the building of new homes.”

This is an ambitious statement from the government, however before LURA 2023 can take full effect there will need to be a raft of technical consultations, secondary legislation and an update to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).

Some of the planning changes LURA 2023 is trying to achieve:

• changes to digitise planning and speed up local plans
• giving local planning authorities the ability to refuse planning applications where the developer has a track record of not implementing or building out slowly
• a new power to amend planning permissions (Section 73B) which are not substantially different in effect to a previous permission on the site
• changes to planning obligations and CIL via the introduction of a new infrastructure levy.
  

Next steps

We will be awaiting the final text of the LURA 2023 and eagerly awaiting the necessary secondary legislation and changes to the NPPF, at which time we can provide a more through update of the changes.

How can Capsticks help

We are experts on all aspects of planning law including s106 agreements, CIL advice, planning appeals, Compulsory Purchase Orders and all general planning law matters. We can help to guide you through the changes and how this may impact on your development schemes going forward.

If you would like to discuss the content of this article, or need further advice on the issues addressed, please contact Suzanne Smith and Jennifer Eng.