Briefings and responses

The Local Government Association (LGA) supports the introduction of the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 and its ambition to create a simpler, fairer, and more secure tenancy system.

This briefing outlines the LGA’s views on the Social Housing Bill ahead of its second reading in the House of Lords on 1 June 2026.

The government launched a consultation on the New Towns Draft Programme, which sets out proposals to deliver a new generation of large-scale new towns across England. It was open from 23 March to 19 May 2026.

Ensuring local planning authorities have the resources they need to administer the planning system is critical; currently, nine out of ten planning departments report difficulties with recruitment, and almost all (97 per cent) report significant planning skills gaps.

Government must be mindful of balancing interests of national growth with the role of local councils and councillors, as well as trust and democracy in the planning system.

While we broadly support the Government’s intention to streamline and speed up the planning system, we remain concerned about the potential erosion of local democracy and the limited flexibility created by a highly standardised national scheme of delegation as set out in our response to the previous technical consultation.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government held a consultation from 12 February to 26 March 2026 on proposed geographies for producing spatial development strategies.

Local government fully shares the Government's commitment to significantly boost housebuilding and stands ready to work constructively to deliver the 1.5 million safe, decent, and genuinely affordable homes.

The Regulator of Social Housing held a consultation from 9 December 2025 to 3 March 2026 on changes to consumer standards and requirements, following a direction from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

This response integrates the feedback from LGA members across the Inclusive Growth, Culture Tourism and Sport, and Fire and Rescue Authority Committees as well as engagement with planning officers.