Building safety – changes scheduled for August 2021.

The MHCLG has announced planning gateway one is to be introduced from 1 August 2021 for buildings over 18m (or seven storeys in height).

The gateway involves new requirements to provide planning authorities with a variety of fire safety information – a ‘fire statement’ – as well as other regulatory changes:

• The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) becomes a statutory consultee before planning permission is granted for development which involves a high-rise residential building
• Requires relevant applications for planning permission to include a fire statement to ensure applicants have considered fire safety issues as they relate to land use planning matters
• Informs effective decision-making by local planning authorities (or the Secretary of State) so that those decisions properly reflect and respond to the needs of the local community

The changes will be made through further amendments to the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015 and an associated statutory instrument.

The changes are part of the government’s building safety programme which will see further changes included in the Building Safety Bill – announced in the Queen’s speech on 11 May.

Full details of the proposed changes, including the draft statutory instrument and fire statement are available on the  gov website.

Commenting Lorna Stimpson, LABC Chief Executive said, “LABC welcomes the publication of the details of the gateway one process. This represents the culmination of efforts from organisations across the industry through the Joint Regulators Group and is the first stage of the radical recasting of building safety outlined by Dame Judith Hackitt in her report. “It is important for the whole construction industry to understand these new processes and regulations. LABC will be engaging with our network over the coming weeks to make sure local authorities are aware of the new planning requirements.”