Buried in the minutae of the Queen’s Speech to Parliament is yet another Golden Egg for developers.

The government intends to ensure that developers can immediately discharge upon application, certain types of planning conditions (presumably Section 106 contributions and maybe the affordable housing contribution) if a local authority has not notified the developer of their decision within a prescribed time period.

So, a local authority only has to be 24 hours late in reaching a (very quick) decision and every community benefit may be wiped out.

Some developments are so complex the targets of 8 or 13 weeks (depending on who you listen to) will be impossible. Simple applications may similarly now be made more complex by unscrupulous developers or local authorities wanting to push through developments but not wanting the developer to pay for community benefits or infrastructure.

Nice one Dave.