Last month, the Minister for Housing and Planning, Matthew Pennycook, described further adjustments to the policy – sparking fresh concerns. Previously, the Government was talking about lighter rules to developments of 10–49 homes on sites up to one hectare. Affordable housingAt the moment, councils usually require a proportion of homes to be provided as affordable housing on sites of a certain size. Local plansCouncils will be required to set aside more land for small-to-medium housing sites when they draw up their local plans. “This is the most significant rewrite of planning rules in over a decade and will fix the broken system we inherited.”

Source: Express January 02, 2026 10:29 UTC