Dominic Raab

Government provides new funding to speed up planning decisions



Housing minister Dominic Raab has announced that £15.8m of the planning delivery fund has been awarded to local authorities to help speed up planning decisions for new housing.


This first wave of the funding will help councils process more applications, implement new reforms and train planners.

The package has been split into three funding streams:

  • the joint working fund (£9.4m),
  • the design quality fund (£4.82m)
  • the promoting innovation fund (£1.07m)

The funding will also allow councils to access the latest expertise on design and town planning.

Mr Raab said: “This cash boost ensures councils have the resources needed to make quicker decisions on planning applications, delivering quality housing at a faster rate.

“It’s part of our strategy to build the homes this country needs, while also supporting residents to have their say on the kind of development that takes place in their area.”

A total of 68 projects in the UK will receive the funding across all three streams from 2017 until 2019.

The projects include:                                            

  • Bath and North East Somerset Council has received £310,000 to deliver a new master plan and implement an independent design review
  • London Borough of Hackney has received £212,000 to implement new planning applications manager software, which will increase the rate of application decisions made
  • Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council has secured £570,000 for the second Black Country Joint Core Strategy, and to support development in Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton
  • The Greater Manchester Combined Authority will receive £950,000 to deliver a new place team, create new mayoral development corporations and provide additional resource to deliver investment.


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