Those that do not produce schemes to speed up housing provision by 2017 could lose control of planning process

Local councils must produce plans to speed up the provision of housing by 2017 or risk losing control of their planning process, David Cameron will say as the government prepares to publish its much awaited housing bill.

The legislation will contain measures requiring councils to sell off their most expensive properties and to allow housing association tenants to buy their property. So far 82% of English councils have published local plans, which should set out how many homes they plan to deliver over a set period, but only 65% have fully adopted them and almost 20% of councils do not have an up-to-date plan at all.

The bill also contains measures previously set out in the government productivity plan for automatic planning permission in principle on brownfield sites.

On Monday, Cameron will make it clear that he regards publication and adoption of such plans as critical to his aim of achieving an extra 1m homes in this parliament, and if they are not produced by 2017 the communities secretary will be empowered to require them to do so.



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The government has already said it will publish league tables, setting out local authorities’ progress on providing a plan for the jobs and homes needed locally. It has also set up a panel of experts to speed the process of producing them, but it has not yet been specific over how plans will be drawn up in the absence of local council co-operation.

Councils are required, under legislation passed in 2012, to produce an annual trajectory of how many homes they plan to build in their area – usually over a period of about 15 years. These must also be reviewed regularly – usually every five years – and in theory give local people more of a say on where new developments go and what they look like.

Downing Street claims such plans appear to work, as before March 2012 the average number of homes planned by local authorities stood at 573 a year, which has now risen to 717 .

Ministers also plan to put a stronger duty on councils to cooperate where one council cannot build sufficient houses within its own local authority boundary. New development corporations will also be empowered to deliver higher-density development in designated areas close to commuter hubs.

It has become clear that housing is increasingly one of Cameron’s key priorities, but is also raises familiar tensions between central and local government.

Cameron made a commitment to new starter homes a central pillar of his social reforming speech to his party conference, and ministers have struck a voluntary agreement with local housing associations giving 1.3 million tenants the right to buy at discounted prices.

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Cameron will also confirm that a temporary rule introduced in May 2013 allowing people to convert disused offices into homes without applying for planning permission will become permanent. Almost 4,000 conversions were given the go ahead between April 2014 to last June, Downing Street said.

Cameron said: “A greater Britain must mean more families having the security and stability of owning a home of their own. My government will do everything it can to help people buy a place of their own – at the heart of this is our ambition to build one million new homes by 2020.

“Many areas are doing this already – and this is great – but we need a national crusade to get homes built and everyone must play their part.

“Councils have a key role to play in this by drawing up their own local plans for new homes by 2017. But if they fail to act, we’ll work with local people to produce a plan for them.”