Shoreditch could see 30 aircraft hangars worth of commercial floorspace and hundreds of new homes under the major proposals to shake up local planning policies in the borough over the next 15 years, which the Labour-run council claims will bring over 11,000 new jobs to the creative and commercial district.
Analysis by insurer Aviva reveals that 11% of the 396,602 new homes in England built between 2022 and 2024 were built in areas of medium or high risk of flooding, while more than a quarter (26%) have some flood risk. While comparable statistics have not been published since 2022, Aviva said its assessment showed the number of homes built in flood risk areas has accelerated as housebuilding increases. The problem is particularly acute in and around the capital, the analysis reveals.
These specially designed bricks provide nesting space for declining bird species like swifts, and new government guidance now expects them in all new homes. Understanding how this policy works, how it could affect your planning application, and what it actually means in practice could save you headaches - and ensure your build ticks the ecological boxes planners are increasingly looking for.
The government has broken its promise to protect nature by weakening planning rules for housing developers, groups have said. While developers once had to create biodiversity net gain (BNG), meaning creating 10% more space for nature on site than there was before the building took place, housing minister Matthew Pennycook announced exemptions to this rule on Tuesday.
The amount of bike storage that needs to be provided in new housing developments in London is to be watered down, it can be revealed. This will reduce the number of secure bike spaces that have to be provided and could also permit developers to make a financial contribution in lieu of building bike racks or allow them to be built some distance from the new homes. City Hall believes this is acceptable because of the rise in the number of Londoners hiring dockless e-bikes, such as those provided by Lime and Forest.
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
Steve Reed, the housing secretary, and Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, will announce the package within weeks, in what officials say will be a time-limited intervention designed to stall the sudden drop in new building in the capital. The plans, details of which are still being negotiated, have been welcomed by developers but condemned by homelessness charities who say it will increase the record numbers of people who are homeless in the UK.
Solihull Council has proposed reclassifying four villages - Knowle, Dorridge, Bentley Heath and Balsall Common - as towns to limit the impact of grey belt planning reforms. By changing how these settlements are officially defined, councils aim to influence where development can take place and protect the character of rural areas. Solihull's Draft Settlement Hierarchy consultation proposes that certain rural settlements be considered towns rather than villages.
Yet, recent changes to national planning policy could unlock new potential avenues for tracking down land; specifically, alterations made to the policy around brownfield sites. In 2024, the government pledged its support for the development of brownfield land - that is, land that's previously been developed for another, usually industrial, purpose. It also released £68 million's worth of funding to select local authorities to help clear empty buildings, former carparks and industrial land for house building, including self and custom build.
