Land Business Tracker | May 2023
Welcome to our quarterly tracker of key land management, farming, planning and energy regulation and legislation.
In this issue we cover:
We try to keep our Tracker of regulation and legislation that affects rural property as brief as possible but… it continues to get longer!
It feels like there is a lot of new regulation and also consultation that is leading to new plans and strategies on a very wide range of subjects.
To make this long document easier to navigate, we have structured it by subject area and then by the country affected (in alphabetical order!)
One of areas with the greatest amount of new regulation and legislation is residential lettings. The regulation is aiming to reduce the adverse effects on local property markets from short-term lets and second homes, and it is also trying to pull the energy efficiency up and emissions down. There is also a theme, in all three nations, of trying to raise the quality of the private rented sector – in the standard of the homes and also in the rights that tenants have. This is pushing up the need for high quality management by landlords.
The other area with lots of activity is, inevitably, the environment. Attempts to reduce our negative impacts are happening through farming policy, through energy production and use and efficiency, and through reducing the negative impacts of development on biodiversity. There is lots going on and we hope that good strategies are translated into effective policies that bring their target audiences along.
If you would like to discuss any of the subjects in the Tracker, please contact your local Strutt & Parker team or me.
New and updated subjects to look out for in this edition
| UK | England | Scotland | Wales |
| Draft revised Air Quality Strategy | Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, including the new Infrastructure Levy (NB affects Wales too) | Draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan consultation | Nutrient management: managing the application of livestock manures sustainably |
| Local Nutrient Mitigation Fund | Permitted development rights: temporary recreational campsites, renewable energy and film-making consultation | Council tax on second and empty homes / non-domestic rates: consultation | Agricultural (Wales) Bill |
| Taxation of environmental land management and ecosystem service markets | Renters’ Reform Bill and A Fairer Private Rented Sector White Paper | Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Bill 2022 | Planning Policy Wales: net benefit for biodiversity and ecosystems’ resilience |
| Right to Rent checks | Government review into short-term tourist accommodation | Repairing standard: statutory guidance for landlords | The Non-Domestic Rating (Amendment of Definition of Domestic Property) (Wales) Order 2022 |
