Councils will be able to deliver homes faster and easier through new planning changes proposed by the government.
The government has proposed giving councils the ability to buy cheaper land using compulsory purchase orders, which is expected to support the development of homes and infrastructure.
The proposed changes mean councils, Mayoral Combined Authorities and other public bodies, including Homes England, will be able to directly take control of vacant and derelict land from landowners by paying a fair price and not inflated ‘hope value’ costs, if it is in the public interest.
‘Hope value’ estimates the cost of land if it was developed on in the future, which sometimes leaves councils paying more for this land or caught up in disputes over costs.
The government said this reform was building on existing legislation that allows ‘hope value’ to be removed in more circumstances where social and affordable housing is being built.
The government is consulting on proposed changes to compulsory purchase orders to include measures to speed up decision-making, lower the cost of the process and ensure compensation paid to landowners is fair.
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The eight-week consultation will seek views from builders, councils and the wider sector, and the findings will be analysed and used to inform the forthcoming Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which will be introduced next year.
This comes after the government announced changes to the planning system and National Planning Policy Framework, as well as mandatory housing targets for councils.
Matthew Pennycook, the housing and planning minister, said: “In our manifesto, we committed ourselves to further compulsory purchase reform to deliver more housing, infrastructure, amenity, and transport benefits in the public interest.
“The consultation we are launching today is the next step in fulfilling that commitment – proposing reforms that will make the process faster and more efficient, enabling more land value to be captured and then invested in schemes for public benefit.”
