THE PROPERTY FILTER TAKE
Reform UK has published planning proposals that would scrap affordable housing requirements and three developer charges on brownfield housing schemes in England, outside the five largest cities (Property Week, 4 September 2026).
Nothing changes for your occupancy or your listing today: these are party proposals with no confirmed start date, and the paper as reported says nothing about short-term lets.
Responses close on 31 December, so you may wish to add a quarterly check of brownfield residential applications in the towns you operate in.
Reform UK wants to strip the main planning costs off brownfield housing schemes in England. Brownfield means previously-developed land, such as an old depot or a vacant retail unit. The party's "Planning Teal Paper" proposes scrapping affordable housing requirements and three separate developer charges on those sites (Property Week, 4 September 2026). These Reform planning proposals are open for responses until 31 December, and they are not law.
What would change on brownfield sites?
The paper is the party's version of a green paper, meaning a consultation document that floats ideas before any bill is drafted. Property Week reports that it is described as a "menu of solutions" to the housing crisis. It proposes a national policy presumption for brownfield residential schemes, so councils would approve them in all but the most exceptional cases.
Three charges would go on those schemes, according to the same report. The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL, a charge councils apply to new development to fund local infrastructure such as roads and schools). Biodiversity net gain (BNG, a requirement that a development leaves more nature behind than it found). And section 106 payments, the money a developer agrees to pay a council to offset a scheme's local impact.
Affordable housing requirements would be scrapped on brownfield sites too, with one carve-out. In England's five largest cities, 5% on-site affordable housing would still be required on developments of 20 homes or more. Property Week's report does not name which five cities those are, so that detail is not confirmed here. A shifting supply picture also reopens the short let versus standard tenancy question. Our property investment strategies hub covers how the two behave over a cycle.
The paper also proposes scrapping all spatial development strategies, including the London Plan, and removing nationally imposed housing targets. Building regulations standards would be scrapped except for those deemed "necessary", including fire safety.
What this could mean for short-let supply outside the big cities
Here is the part that matters for an SA (serviced accommodation, or short-term let) operator, and it is about geography rather than licensing. The carve-out only protects affordable housing rules in the five largest English cities. Everywhere else in England, the deregulation would apply in full. That is secondary towns, which is exactly where a lot of short-let stock sits.
More brownfield completions in those towns would eventually mean more accommodation of every kind competing for the same guests. That is my read of the geography, not a claim in the paper, and no volume or timeline is attached to it. Watching where new residential stock actually lands in a postcode is an area-analysis job, and our deal-sourcing and area analysis software is built for that kind of check.
If a town's supply picture does move, the viability sums move with it. You can re-run yours with our free BTL stress test calculator.
When could this take effect, and where would it apply?
No start date is confirmed. The deadline for responses to the paper is 31 December, with the party's finalised planning policy to be announced in full next year (Property Week, 4 September 2026). These are proposals from a political party, and they carry no legal force unless a government enacts them.
Jurisdiction matters here. CIL, section 106, biodiversity net gain and the London Plan are England instruments, and the paper as reported addresses England. Planning is devolved, so Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland run separate systems that this paper would not change. Reform has previously pledged to build 50,000 new affordable homes a year for the next 10 years, Property Week reports. Our free property resources hub is a reasonable place to start if you are building a watchlist of policy that touches your operating areas.
Key takeaways
Reform UK's planning paper would scrap affordable housing requirements, CIL, biodiversity net gain and section 106 payments on brownfield residential schemes in England (Property Week, 4 September 2026).
The one exception is England's five largest cities, where 5% on-site affordable housing would remain on schemes of 20 homes or more.
Responses to the paper close on 31 December, and the finalised policy is due to be announced in full next year.
These are party proposals, not law, and no commencement date exists.
The paper as reported contains nothing on short-term let licensing, occupancy or guest demand.
Frequently asked questions
Does this change anything for my short-term let right now?
When would the proposals take effect?
Which parts of the UK would this cover?
What is brownfield land?
