Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023

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The Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 (LURA 2023) received Royal Assent on 23 October 2023. It sets out significant reform of the planning system, including changes to developer contributions, environmental assessment, digital planning, the preparation of local plans, heritage protections, decision-making enforcement and compulsory purchase.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government announced the grant of Royal Assent in a statement published on 26 October 2023, stating that LURA 2023 would ‘speed up the planning system, hold developers to account, cut bureaucracy, and encourage more councils to put in place plans ...

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Latest Planning News

High Court clarifies the scope and procedure for the Secretary of State’s review of National Po...

Planning analysis: The court confirmed that statutory consultation of a National Policy Statement (NPS) (or any review thereof) must be carried out in accordance with the ‘Sedley principles’ that require the consultation to be carried out when the proposals are at a ‘formative stage’ and the need for ‘conscientious consideration’ of consultation responses. The court clarified that these principles were limited to matters which a reasonable reader would think was within the scope of the consultation rather than a subjective test as to what the Secretary of State (SoS)’s intention was in the consultation. Written by Brendon Lee, Partner at HCR Hewitsons.

Prime Minister announces new AI tool to accelerate planning permissions process

The Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, has announced the launch of ‘Extract’—an AI tool, developed by the government in collaboration with Google DeepMind—to support planning officers and local councils in England. Extract, which uses the Gemini AI model, will assist councils in digitising planning documents by converting handwritten records and maps into data. In trials conducted across Hillingdon, Nuneaton & Bedworth, and Exeter councils, the tool digitised planning records in just three minutes, compared to the one to two hours typically required for manual processing. The government plans to roll out Extract to all English councils by spring 2026, aiming to reduce the estimated 250,000 hours spent annually on manual document checks. The digitised planning data will be uploaded to a publicly accessible GOV.UK service page.

DESNZ and MHCLG to mandate solar panel installation on new build homes under Future Homes Stand...

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) have announced that the upcoming Future Homes Standard (FSH), expected to be published in autumn 2025, will amend the Building Regulations, SI 2010/2214, to mandate solar panel installation on new build homes. The FSH will make renewable electricity generation—primarily through solar panels—a functional requirement, with limited exemptions for practical constraints such as excessive shading or tree cover. In 2023, the previous government proposed that new build homes must either have solar panel coverage equivalent to 40% of the building’s floor area or none at all. The current government intends to revise this approach, requiring developers who cannot meet the full 40% coverage to still install a reasonable amount of solar panels. The FSH will also require new homes to be built with low carbon heating systems, such as heat pumps and heat networks.

Court provides guidance on temporary permitted development rights (Shaman v Lambeth Council)

Planning analysis: In Shaman v Lambeth LBC, the court found that the Council had acted unlawfully and irrationally in granting a certificate of lawfulness of proposed use or development (CLOPUD) for a series of festivals in Brockwell Park. In this case, the park would not revert to normal use until 37 days after the commencement of the change of use—a period that ‘incontrovertibly’ exceeded the 28 day limit. The judgment clarifies the interpretation of temporary permitted development rights.

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