UK Housing Numbers, Garden Villages and Westminster Hostility…   We give you the ins and outs of what’s been happening in planning this month: A boost for housing The Department for Communities and Local Government has attempted a bold new step in addressing our housing crisis. A new formula to calculate housing targets means that 150 local authorities across the UK have seen their housing targets increase by as much as 35 percent. For the local authorities baffled by the new formula, it comprises of three steps: Looking at household growth projections published by the Office of National Statistics […]

With the backdrop of one of the most beautiful cities in Europe Theresa May gave her long-awaited Brexit update speech, in front of one of the most boring grey banners in living memory. Long gone were the days of the splendid bookcases of Lancaster House. This Lancaster 2.0 speech was designed to kick-start the dawdling and laggard negotiations between David Davis and Michel Barnier. It was meant to be a game-changer, a turning point in the negotiations but it unfortunately failed to give any real assurances to either Brussels, the British people or businesses. In brief, May has effectively agreed […]

  Brexit blues On Monday 11 September, Members of Parliament voted on the EU (Withdrawal) Bill. Once dubbed the Great Repeal Bill (Which Chelgate Local took a closer look at – read their analysis here), the ‘Great’ has now been dropped – perhaps an acknowledgement that all is not well on the ship supposed to be steering us out of the EU. Brexit Secretary David Davis warned MPs ahead of the vote not to derail the Bill and cause a ‘chaotic’ Brexit. Most Tory MPs took heed of the warning, with just one pro-Remain MP (Ken Clarke) choosing to deliberately abstain. […]