The Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023[1] (c. 55) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The Act is said to "speed up the planning system, hold developers to account, cut bureaucracy, and encourage more councils to put in place plans to enable the building of new homes" by the Government.[2] This is said by the Government to transform town centres by "giving councils the powers to work directly with landlords to bring empty buildings back into use by local businesses and community groups, breathing life back into empty high streets".[3]
The Act was opposed to by a large amount of local government who said it would undermine regional and local leaders.[4] The Act also relaxed the blanket ban to onshore wind farms.[5] The Act introduced a requirement of planning permission for short term lets.[6] The latter was to reduce the scourge of second homes.[7]
The Act (amongst other things):
Certain parts of the Act came into force on Royal Assent. A large proportion of the Act came into force on 26 December 2023, being two months since the Act was passed.[8] Regulations have been made by the Secretary of State bringing the rest of the provisions into force which are staggered over the coming years.[9][10][11][12]
The Act was first introduced to the House of Commons on 11 May 2022 and received its third reading in the House of Lords on 21 September 2023.[13] It is part of the government's levelling-up policy, and has a vast history to it. The Bill was criticised for covering a significant number of different policy areas, and has been labelled as a "mish-mash" of various policy areas and a "Christmas tree Bill" by Baroness Hayman of Ullock.[14] The size and policy areas covered by the Act have been castigated by many politicians. It was piloted through the Commons by Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, and through the Lords by Baroness Scott of Bybrook, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Faith and Communities.
During its passage in the Lords, there were even further policy areas introduced, such as about ULEZ in London, childminding. One which the Lords vociferously rejected was a reduction in nutrient neutrality requirements: an environmental regulation transposed inherited from the EU which requires local planning authorities to consider the impact of new homes on the local environment and waterways (mainly increased sewage, which the Government said would open up to over 100,000 homes to be built.[15][16]
The Act received Royal Assent on 26 October 2023.