News & Insights

Whilst the recent Planning and National Press has been understandably focused on the Labour Government reforms to accelerate housing and economic delivery, the planning industry is now starting to acclimatise to the aims of The Environment Act 2021. The Act has an overall objective to “leave the environment in a better state than we found it”. A key enabler for achieving this is the statutory requirement for assessing and demonstrating Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG). This came into force for large sites in January 2024 and for small sites in April 2024.

Summix, like many Strategic Land Promoters, has been avidly following the plethora of announcements Labour have been making over the past couple of weeks including the Chancellor’s maiden speech, the King’s Speech and last week’s Deputy Prime Ministers address to the the House of Commons. What is consistently recurring is that Labour are clear that Local Authorities will have a choice about how they deliver the numbers (1.5 million homes), not whether they deliver them. Potential mechanisms for delivery include “new towns” and urban extensions and reforming the Green Belt. It is the latter that this article will cover.

As the dust settles on this week’s Rachel Reeves' statement of intent as Chancellor of the Exchequer, what are the implications for companies like Summix who are promoting a range of sites and projects through the planning system some of which like Worcestershire Parkway are now nationally prominent?