The London Property Alliance has written to the minister for housing, communities and local government, Robert Jenrick, calling for planning changes to ensure that London’s property sector can carry on once the Covid-19 pandemic abates.
The organisation is calling for an automatic two-year extension of existing planning permissions that are due to expire over the next 12 months for major developments.
For other schemes, developers should also be able to apply to their local planning authority to renew or extend all existing planning permissions, the LPA said.
It is also asking for the short-term reintroduction of planning mechanisms, such as section 106BA that used to be included within section 106 agreements and allowed developers to ask to modify, replace, remove or discharge affordable housing obligations if they made schemes unviable.
These mechanisms were introduced in an attempt to restart schemes which had stalled during the 2008-09 recession. This would allow changes to support continued construction and would allow more flexibility in staging and delaying Community Infrastructure Levy payments while construction is curtailed, the LPA said.
The LPA is also calling on the government to bring forward alterations to shop classifications to improve flexibility after Covid-19 to promote innovation and support the viability of high streets, as well as preventing an increase in vacant shops.
LPA executive director Charles Begley said: “Importantly, the ability of local authorities to implement these changes and support growth post Covid-19 will be dependent on the resourcing and staffing of their planning teams, which has come under acute pressure nationwide. MHCLG must ensure all local planning authorities are adequately resourced, both now and in the longer term, to implement these changes and avoid delays.
“Providing local authorities greater flexibility to charge larger developers to cover their costs will be essential, on the basis that such fees, including those generated by planning performance agreements, are ring-fenced to support the planning service.”
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