The government says it will unblock hundreds of thousands of new homes that are being trapped in the planning system.
The scheme, known as the New Homes Accelerator, will involve a team from the Ministry of Housing and Homes England, who will work across government and with local councils to speed up the building of homes delayed by red tape.
They will bring together government agencies, local planning departments and housebuilders, who will work to resolve specific local issues and deploy planning experts on the ground to work through blockages at each site identified.
This includes looking at barriers to affordable housing delivery where relevant.
The scheme will provide resources to support local planning capacity where there are barriers and work across the board to make sure planning decisions are made in a timely fashion.
Government analysis suggests 200 large sites have outline or detailed plans ready to go but are yet to begin construction, and the team is already getting started on some of those that would benefit from early interventions.
The Accelerator will focus on lending a helping hand to frustrated housebuilders and local communities who want to play their part to get Britain building again, in turn driving local and economic growth.
Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner said: “Our New Homes Accelerator will quickly identify blockages, fix problems and support local authorities and developers to get shovels in the ground.”
David O’Leary, Executive Director of the Home Builders Federation said: “The planning process and everything associated with it delivers too little land and has long been a significant constraint on house building.
“A lack of planning department capacity and misaligned incentives for other public bodies and statutory consultees has created a process with huge uncertainty. This creates an abundance of risk resulting in longer development timescales and severe challenges in particular for small and medium-sized house builders.
“Adopting a pragmatic approach to planning will increase the pace at which new homes are built and help to turn around ailing housing supply.”
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