Posts Tagged ‘Planning and Development’
Air Conditioning Becomes a Hot Topic for Planners
Is this the next planning headache for overheating homes? Air conditioning is becoming an increasingly familiar sight on UK buildings – and that could create a growing challenge for planning authorities. As summers become hotter and concerns about overheating increase, more householders and businesses are looking for ways to keep buildings cool. But while the…
Read MoreInfrastructure Before Expansion
Why Greater Cambridge is looking back to move forward… For all the talk of a new approach to growth in Greater Cambridge, the principle now underpinning the proposed development corporation has a distinctly familiar ring. The government’s ambition is clear: infrastructure should not be an afterthought to development. The new Greater Cambridge Development Corporation is…
Read MoreAmbitious Plans for New Towns
The New Towns Taskforce (NTT) set out an ambitious vision for the next generation of large-scale development, first identifying 12 locations across England for potential growth, with the number now whittled down to seven… While framed as a revival of post-war ‘new towns’, the reality is more nuanced – and for planning professionals, far more…
Read MoreHope for the Ox-Cam Corridor?
A ‘supreme planning authority’ could revive the Oxford-Cambridge Corridor… The Oxford–Cambridge Corridor has long been promoted as one of the UK’s greatest untapped economic opportunities. Stretching across roughly 100 miles and connecting two world-leading university cities, the corridor has the potential to become a powerhouse for science, technology, innovation and housing delivery. Yet despite ambitious…
Read MoreA Busy Month for the Planning Industry
The past month has brought one of the most significant waves of planning reform announcements in years, with the government pursuing an aggressive strategy to accelerate housing delivery, cut perceived bureaucracy, and reconfigure the relationship between central and local decision-making… First, in the Budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has confirmed a substantial £48 million boost to…
Read MoreThe Widening Gap between Application and Build
Planning applications are on the up, but two significant hurdles are delaying new homes… Recent figures from TerraQuest’s Planning Portal reveal that planning applications for new homes jumped by nearly a third between April and June 2025 compared with the same period in 2024. In total, 69,597 new homes were applied for in Q2, up…
Read MoreAI Tool Promises to Cut Planning Backlogs and Delays
The new AI assistant – Extract – enables old files, maps and notes to be transformed into accurate digital data in seconds… The rise of AI (Artificial Intelligence) is a contentious subject, depending upon what industry you work within. While it may be entertaining social media users, who have enjoyed turning themselves into boxed action…
Read MoreSpringing into Construction Action
Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Spring Statement may not have brought much joy to retailers and small businesses, with an increase in wages and National Insurance payments on the cards, but in the world of planning it looks like she may have offered a little hope. It all comes down to the suggestion that the money injected…
Read MoreNew Towns – The Future for New Housing Development?
Following the recent New Towns Taskforce visit to Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire, we consider how viable these new developments will be… New Towns Taskforce The chair of the new New Towns Taskforce, which held its first meeting in Milton Keynes, has identified that the area nearby has ‘considerable potential’ as the site of a New…
Read MoreNew Government Sets Targets for Home Provision
Local authorities will be expected to plan for 370,000 homes a year under new proposals from Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Angela Rayner… The new Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has announced a number of planning system reforms, among them a recalculation of the required number of…
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