Housing NSIPs –The New Way Forward
Published on 10th Jul 2015
Following a relatively limited engagement of planning in Wednesday’s budget, a raft of changes have been separately announced by the Government in an effort to boost housing supply in the UK.
One of the most significant changes arising from the reforms is the proposal for major infrastructure projects that include housing development elements to be fast-tracked through the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) regime.
Whilst there are a range of additional reforms that will assist in plugging the gap in housing supply (including those relating to brownfield zones, local plans and automatic planning grants for upwards extensions in London) we consider the NSIPs proposal to be of the greatest significance.
Given our current involvement in a major infrastructure project, Osborne Clarke has experience of dealing with issues arising out of the NSIP regime. One of the strongest benefits of the NSIP process is the conferral of compulsory purchase powers. In the context of housing such powers could assist with unlocking sites that were previously unavailable for development.
The reforms have the potential to create exciting new opportunities for housing development and given Osborne Clarke’s experience in the NSIP process, we will be sure to monitor the changes with great interest.
