Yesterday's King's Speech set out Labour's agenda for the coming year in this regard, announcing a new Planning and Infrastructure Bill. The Bill is aimed at "unlocking more housing" and will "speed up and streamline the planning process to build more homes of all tenures and accelerate the delivery of major infrastructure projects…".
The Government's Background Briefing Note, published at the same time as the King's Speech, says the legislation will improve the planning system at a local level by "modernising planning committees and increasing local planning authorities' capacity to deliver an improved service". The Note goes on to say that "the reforms will help unlock more sites for development, enabling more effective land assembly, and in doing so speeding up housebuilding and delivering more affordable housing, supporting the public interest".
What does this mean for Scotland?
The impact of all of this, if any, on the planning system and the provision of housing in Scotland remains to be seen.
With the planning regime here being devolved, it is the National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) that applies to Scotland.
The Scottish Government's 2021 explanatory report for NPF4's draft housing land requirement noted that "to be relevant, planning for housing must…move away from debating overly complicated housing figures and calculation methodologies to focus much more on enabling development of quality homes and creating quality places to live".
Nonetheless, looking at the manifestos of the main political parties in Scotland in the run-up to the July 2024 General Election, there was a common acknowledgement that Scotland, too, is in the midst of a housing emergency, with the Scottish Government having declared such an emergency in May 2024.
I recently wrote about the Court of Session's decision in Miller Homes Ltd v Scottish Ministers and the important policy questions related to NPF4's Policy 16 'Quality Homes' that were raised for planning authorities and developers in Scotland in connection with the decision and housing land supply.
Since then, Scotland's Chief Planner has published a letter to stakeholders on planning for housing. The letter is an attempt to provide further clarification on the application of Policy 16, 'Quality Homes'. It makes reference to "seeking to develop a more positive dialogue on planning for housing" and notes that the Scottish Government remain committed to "working collaboratively with all those with an interest in planning and housing", including "finding constructive solutions to challenges". The letter concludes by noting that the "housing emergency is a challenge that must be tackled on many fronts".
The Scottish Government's position
In response to the new Labour government's comments on planning reform and housebuilding, a Scottish Government spokesperson has said:
"The Scottish Government recognises the crucial role of planning and development in growing the economy, achieving net zero and tackling the housing emergency. We have already significantly reformed Scotland's planning system and are now focused on ensuring planning authorities have the capacity and skills to improve consistency and increase confidence and certainty in the planning process."
They further noted:
"We would welcome the opportunity to share learning from our reforms with the UK Government as part of activity to establish a constructive relationship".
