New planning powers have come into effect giving local councils greater tools to hold rogue developers to account as part of the Government’s landmark Levelling-up and Regeneration Act.
Council planners can use stronger enforcement measures to take on landowners who repeatedly break planning rules. This includes those who carry out works without approval or act in bad faith on developments with planning consent.
These changes will make it harder for rulebreakers to seek future planning permission and will give councils the ability to issue unlimited fines against those failing to build in the right places.
The measures include:
- Increasing enforcement limits from four to 10 years so councils have more time to stop developments without planning approval.
- Introducing unlimited fines against developers who fail to comply with planning permission or refusing to deal with rundown properties and overgrown fields.
- Doubling the length of temporary stop notices to 56 days to suspend all works if a council suspects building has gone ahead despite permission has not been granted.
- Strengthening the Planning Inspectorate to dismiss appeals against developers trying to delay the process, including the refusal of site visits and access.
These immediate powers will work alongside wider measures introduced through the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act that requires developers to help deliver vital infrastructure, including schools and doctor surgeries, which will put an end to lifeless edge-of-town developments.
The Act also brings forward new laws to encourage developers to get on with building more homes, providing regular updates on progress and giving councils the chance to consider slow build-out rates when granting planning approval.
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