LURB becomes LURA: The Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023
27 October 2023
Nearly 18 months after its first reading in Parliament, the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill received Royal Assent on 26 October 2023 and is now the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023 (the “Act” or “LURA”).
The Act is likely to have a significant impact on the planning and development landscape with the planning system being highlighted as a tool to achieve the Government’s stated intention of making the UK more prosperous. The Government believes that measures contained in the Act designed to encourage and accelerate the local planning system will play a significant role in this.
The Act also brings forward powers to replace CIL with a new Infrastructure Levy, which it is intended will have a much wider reach than the current CIL regime; scrap EIA and replace this with a system of environmental outcomes reports and provide new powers to amend planning permissions, which it is hoped (but many are sceptical) will provide at least part of the solution to the issues brought to the fore as a result of the decision in Hillside Parks.
As yet, we have not seen published a copy of the Act. Once published we will provide updates on the key elements of the Act and explore in further detail what these could mean for you and your organisation. In some cases, it will fundamentally change the way planning works, but in the main (as is so often the case), “root and branch” reform and “simplification” have not materialised, and much of the LURA requires secondary legislation before it has any meaning at all.
More LURA(id) details to follow…
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Daniel Fletcher
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Edward Long
Services
The content of this article is for general information only. It is not, and should not be taken as, legal advice. If you require any further information in relation to this article please contact the author in the first instance. Law covered as at October 2023.