Angela Rayner is preparing to announce fresh plans for new build houses in the country, including scrapping one major rule in order to speed up construction
The deputy prime minister and housing secretary is tipped to get rid of the rule that ensures all new housing is “beautiful”, according to The i.
The new requirements will be announced on Thursday, prompting fears that Labour will seek to cut red tape in order to deliver its promise of 1.5 million new homes during its time in power.
The new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) will replace the previous standards for “beauty” as part of Rayner’s plan to expedite the planning process.
A Whitehall source told the outlet: “The last government’s imposition of vague and subjective requirements for ‘beautiful’ developments erected new hurdles and slowed down the delivery of new homes.”
The aim is to “speed up planning” while also keeping in place the requirements for “well-designed homes and places”, the source added.
The National Design Guide and National Model Design Code is expected to be updated in the spring of next year.
The current rules that are set to be scrapped were introduced by Michael Gove when he was the housing secretary. At the time, he opposed a 165-home development in Tunbridge Wells for being too “generic”.
He also caused a developer to pull a project that would’ve constructed 200 homes in Leamington Spa as they did not comply with his requirements.
The Royal Institute of British Architects said Gove’s rules were too subjective and being used as a “reason to refuse necessary and otherwise high-quality development”.
Another industry source welcomed the news that Rayner plans to scrap the “beauty” requirements
They told the outlet: “The priority of beauty in the NPPF was always a difficult needle to thread. Not only is beauty inherently subjective but doesn’t take in to account local vernacular or what is appropriate for different areas.
“With adherence to design codes and local plans you are most likely to get a better result which isn’t held back by abstract national definitions.
“Ultimately it’s down to the developers who will need to deliver the housing after permissions are granted to build well-designed and high-quality housing.”
