Conservatives Manifesto (Regeneration Blog)

The Conservative Party's election manifesto has confirmed the party's plans to scrap regional spatial strategies and national and regional housebuilding targets.

The manifestosays that a Conservative government would "abolish the entire bureaucratic and undemocratic tier of regional planning, including the regional spatial strategies and building targets".

It says that under a Conservative government developers would have to pay a tariff to local authorities to "compensate the community for loss of amenity and costs of additional infrastructure". A portion of this tariff would be kept by the neighbourhoods in which a given development takes place, "providing clear incentives for communities which go for growth," the manifesto says.

The manifesto also includes plans for a new council tax matching incentive to encourage development. "We will match pound-for-pound the council tax receipts that local authorities receive from new homes to encourage sensitive local development," it said.

However, the manifesto appears to stop short of promising a controversial "third party right of appeal" ....in England.

The Tory planning paper, published in February, said that a Tory government would reform the planning system to allow "appeals against local planning decisions from local residents". But the party’s manifesto says only that a Conservative government would "limit appeals against local planning decisions to case that involve abuse of process or failure to apply the local plan."

Speaking at the launch of the manifesto, shadow communities secretary Caroline Spelman promised more power for local authorities, more city mayors, and to cut the number of quangos.

She said that a Tory government would allow residents to take control over the size and shape of any building development in their area.

The manifesto also says that a Conservative government would make it easier for social tenants to own or part-own their home.

It says that a "foot on the ladder" programme would be introduced to offer an equity stake to "good social tenants". According to the manifesto, the equity stake could be cashed in "when they move out of social rented accommodation".

The manifesto also says that a Tory government would pilot a "right to move" scheme and introduce a social home swap scheme so "social tenants can transfer their tenancy to another home or part of the country."