Mayors to get powers to overrule local councils on planning decisions

Mayors in 13 areas across England will receive new authority to override local council planning decisions on major developments, mirroring the existing “call in” powers held by the Mayor of London, Sir Sadiq Khan. The measure applies to proposals exceeding 150 homes, more than 15,000 square metres of commercial floor space, or buildings taller than 30 metres. The affected regions include Manchester, Liverpool, the West of England and the West Midlands, as well as the Combined Authorities of North East England, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, York and North Yorkshire, Hull and East Yorkshire, Greater Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, the East Midlands and Tees Valley. Housing minister Matthew Pennycook described the powers as an “essential portion of the toolkit that mayors request to efficaciously present caller homes and regeneration”. He argued they are needed to deliver housing and regeneration effectively. The Conservatives raised concerns, questioning whether it was appropriate for councils to lose the “ability to marque readying decisions successful their ain communities”. Pennycook pointed out that housebuilding has declined in London in recent years, but insisted the “call in” powers had helped the politician “unblock strategical maturation sites” in the capital. Labour’s 2024 general election manifesto pledged to construct 1.5 million homes nationwide by the end of the decade, a target housebuilders warn may be missed. Pennycook said the government remains “absolutely determined to instrumentality with that ambition”, while acknowledging the goal is “really stretching”. He noted that roughly 180,000 children are living in temporary accommodation and that “any smaller people wouldn't beryllium commens