Planning reboot could spare SMEs from Building Safety Levy hit
Planning reboot could spare SMEs from Building Safety Levy hit
Small builders look set to benefit from a major shake-up of planning rules, with ministers proposing possible exemptions from the Building Safety Levy and a new fast-track regime to get homes built quicker.
The Government has published a fresh set of proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework, aimed at speeding up decisions, make smaller housing sites more viable for local developers.
A central move is the creation of a new “medium site” category for schemes of 10 to 49 homes – a change designed to bring down disproportionate costs on small builders and open the door to potential Building Safety Levy exemptions.
The package also trims environmental regulations, simplifies Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) for small sites.
The Government also aims to shift more decision-making from councillors to planning officers, and injects fresh funding into local authorities struggling with major backlogs, especially in London.
Ministers said today’s measures build on urgent steps already taken to “fix a planning system that too often has blocked rather than built”.
Other headline proposals include:
• A default ‘yes’ to building homes around rail stations, alongside minimum housing density rules.
• A national “pattern book” of standard designs to support MMC investment
• Easier routes for SME builders to deliver higher-density homes and small urban flats
• BNG exemptions for small sites to reduce paperwork and delays
• Expanding the Small Sites Aggregator to transform 60 brownfield plots into social housing
• New guidance favouring upward extensions and homes around rail stations
• Streamlined rules on energy efficiency and BNG to remove uncertainty for builders
• Nature-positive additions like swift bricks in all new homes
• Planning committees to be modernised so smaller schemes are decided by officers
• Priority routes for developments that boost local economies and services
The Government says the changes mark a shift towards saying “yes” to development in the right places — including rail hubs, town centres and under-used urban land — while giving SMEs a clearer, cheaper route through the planning maze.
Rico Wojtulewicz, Head of Policy and Market Insight at the National Federation of Builders, said: “The 2024 NPPF review unpicked the last Government’s housing blocking policies and added vital reforms to deliver for large sites and infrastructure. However, it missed a chance to focus on SMEs which is why this subsequent review was needed.
“This NPPF review gives us an opportunity to realign the planning cogs and make planning policy more predictable and coherent.”
Vistry chairman, Greg Fitzgerald said: “The new National Decision Making Policies and refreshed National Planning Policy Framework will protect quality and encourage delivery at pace.
“Importantly the changes will provide the clarity needed to take bold decisions, support environmentally responsible new homes and enhance local services.
“We now need local councils to respond swiftly and grant the permissions required to unlock sustainable and thriving communities.”
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