Planning Delivery Fund

The Planning Delivery Fund is a resource allocated by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) that is intended to support local authorities in areas of acute housing need, helping them process more applications, implement new reforms, and plan for new homes and infrastructure. By supporting best practice and innovation within councils, MHCLG hope that more planning applications will be determined in a shorter time.

A prospectus published at the end of 2017 invited local authorities and third sector organisations to submit bids for initial funding of £11 million. On 24th February 2018, awards were announced to 68 successful bids from local authorities.

The first wave of funding was split into three streams:

• Joint Working Fund: £9.4m.
• Design Quality Fund: £4.82m.
• Promoting Innovation Fund: £1.07m.

Some of the successful bids included:

• Bath and North East Somerset council, who received £310,000 to deliver a new master plan and implement an independent design review.
• The borough of Hackney received £212,000 to implement new planning applications software.
• The Greater Manchester Combined Authority received £950,000 to fund its new Place Team and Mayoral Development Corporations.

The Housing and Planning Minister Dominic 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 whilst also supporting residents to have their say on the kind of development that takes place in their area.”

MHCLG plan to hold a further round of bidding for the remaining £9.2m, to be distributed in 2019/20.

[edit] Find out more

[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki

• Affordable housing.
• Community-led housing.
• Community housing fund.
• Draft housing strategy for London.
• Housing associations.
• Housing contribution to regeneration.
• Housing white paper 2017.