Sector - Housing

Change in housing infrastructure rules to make housing projects easier.

7 Jun 19

The government’s changes to housing infrastructure rules aim to make it easier for councils to deliver housing projects.

New rules will make it easier for local authorities to fund housing infrastructure and reduce the need for builders to pay for infrastructure. The government hopes the new rules will improve transparency and simplicity.

Councils will be required to disclose deals made with developers and how the money will be spent on infrastructure. It is also hoped that simpler guidelines will speed up the development process and help homes be built quicker.

Kit Malthouse MP said: “Communities deserve to know whether their council is fighting their corner with developers – getting more cash to local services so they can cope with the new homes built.”

“The reforms not only ensure developers and councils don’t shirk their responsibilities, allowing residents to hold them to account – but also free up councillors to fund bigger and more complicated projects over the line.”

“The certainty and less needless complexity will lead to quicker decisions, – just another way we’re succeeding in meeting our ambition of building 300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s.”

Previously councils did not have to report how much funding they had received or where it was being spent. The new rules allow residents to see how the area is being prepared for developments ahead of their arrival.

Councils will now be able to introduce the Community Infrastructure Levy ahead of construction. Councils will also be able to fund single projects from multiple sources, allowing for more complex and wide-ranging housing developments.

The new rules have been proposed in parliament and are due to be debated. Developer funding in recent years has helped create jobs in the communities surrounding new developments and new rules will allow for more resident feedback on how they will be affected by changes in the local area.