The House of Lords agreed not to insist on its final proposed amendment to the Bill yesterday, leaving the path open for the Bill to become legislation.
The Housing and Planning Act will immediately allow regulations to be introduced: providing for pilot schemes testing the use of alternative providers to process planning applications; setting timescales for neighbourhood planning decisions; and requiring councils to keep registers of certain types of land.
Provisions requiring councils to consider the sale of vacant council housing will also have immediate effect.
The parts of the Act introducing ‘permission in principle’ for housing-led developments will take effect two months after Royal Assent.
Most other provisions, including those relating to starter homes, will come into force on dates to be specified by the communities secretary in future regulations. It is understood that a number of regulations are likely to be made in October.