| Act of Parliament | |
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| Long title | An Act to make provision for the setting of levelling-up missions and reporting on progress in delivering them; about local democracy; about town and country planning; about Community Infrastructure Levy; about the imposition of Infrastructure Levy; about environmental outcome reports for certain consents and plans; about nutrient pollution standards; about regeneration; about the compulsory purchase of land; about information and records relating to land, the environment or heritage; about the registration of short-term rental properties; for the provision for pavement licences to be permanent; about governance of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors; about the charging of fees in connection with marine licences; for a body to replace the Health and Safety Executive as the building safety regulator; about the transfer of land for Academy schools; about the review of maps of open country and registered common land; about the regulation of childminding; about qualifying leases under the Building Safety Act 2022; about road user charging schemes in London; about National Parks, areas of outstanding natural beauty and the Broads; and for connected purposes. |
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| Citation | 2023 c. 55 |
| Introduced by | Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Commons) The Baroness Scott of Bybrook, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Faith and Communities (Lords) |
| Territorial extent | United Kingdom [b] |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 26 October 2023 |
| Commencement | On royal assent and by regulations [c] |
| Other legislation | |
| Amends | |
| Amended by |
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Status: Amended | |
| History of passage through Parliament | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Revised text of statute as amended | |
| Text of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk. | |
The Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 [1] (c. 55) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
Contents
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] The government said this would "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". [2]
Aspects of the act were opposed by many members of local government, who said it would undermine regional and local leaders. [3] The act also relaxed the blanket ban on onshore wind farms [4] which had been introduced in 2015. [5] The act introduced a requirement of planning permission for short-term lets, [6] to reduce the "scourge" of second homes. [7]
The act (amongst other things):
- introduced levelling-up missions.
- created a new form of devolved local government called a 'combined county authority'.
- created new powers for combined authorities.
- allowed for the modification of titles of mayors of new and existing combined authorities.
- introduced a new Infrastructure Levy, and altered the existing Community Infrastructure Levy.
- made the biggest changes to the planning system for a number of years.
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 after the act was passed. [8] Regulations were made by the Secretary of State to bring into force the rest of the provisions in stages during the following years. [9] [10] [11] [12]