LONDON: Britain set out plans late on Sunday to scale back lengthy public reviews that can delay housing developments, as part of its goal to get 1.5 million homes built in the next five years.
The housing ministry said it would hold a consultation over reducing the number of public agencies and civic groups whose views must be sought over new housing, including groups which represent sporting organizations, theaters and historic gardens.
Planning delays are widely blamed by housebuilders and government for the inability of new construction to keep up with population growth and for contributing to broader economic weakness.
In 2023, 193,000 homes were built across the United Kingdom and the construction industry has not exceeded the 300,000-a-year pace needed to meet the new government’s target since 1977.
“We need to reform the system to ensure it is sensible and balanced, and does not create unintended delays,” Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said.
Further legislation on planning reforms is due later in the week.
Britain’s housing and local government ministry, which Rayner heads, said more than 25 agencies now had a legal right to be consulted on housing developments, some of which often objected by default or insisted on expensive modifications.
The ministry cited the example of how the conversion of an office block into 140 apartments was delayed after a sports body judged insufficient expert advice had been sought over whether a 3-meter-high (10 ft) fence was enough to protect residents from cricket balls struck from an adjacent sports ground.
Around 100 such disputes a year had to be resolved by ministers, the government said.
Under the new proposals, local planning authorities would also be instructed to narrow the basis on which other bodies could object and stick more closely to standard rules and deadlines.
UK seeks to scale back reviews that delay new housing projects
https://arab.news/nasev
UK seeks to scale back reviews that delay new housing projects
- Planning delays are widely blamed by housebuilders and government for the inability of new construction to keep up with population growth
US issues sanctions on family members and associates of Venezuela’s Maduro
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent accused them of “propping up Nicolas Maduro’s rogue narcostate“
- “We will not allow Venezuela to continue flooding our nation with deadly drugs,” Bessent said
WASHINGTON: The United States on Friday imposed sanctions on family members and associates of Nicolas Maduro and his wife, as Washington ratchets up pressure on the Venezuelan president.
The US Treasury Department in a statement said it had imposed sanctions on seven people it said were tied to Maduro and his wife. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent accused them of “propping up Nicolas Maduro’s rogue narcostate.”
“We will not allow Venezuela to continue flooding our nation with deadly drugs,” Bessent said.
“Maduro and his criminal accomplices threaten our hemisphere’s peace and stability. The Trump administration will continue targeting the networks that prop up his illegitimate dictatorship.”
Venezuela’s information ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Maduro and his government have vehemently denied links to crime and say that the US is seeking to oust him in order to take control of Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.
In recent months, the administration of US President Donald Trump has been ratcheting up pressure on Maduro, executing a large-scale military buildup in the southern Caribbean.
It has carried out strikes against suspected drug vessels in the region, seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, and declared a “blockade” of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela.
Trump has also repeatedly said that strikes on land in Venezuela are coming soon.
Friday’s action sanctioned relatives of Carlos Erik Malpica Flores, the nephew of Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores. The US says Malpica Flores was involved in a corruption plot at state oil company PDVSA. He was sanctioned by Washington last week.
His mother — the sister of Maduro’s wife — as well as his father, sister, wife and daughter were hit with sanctions on Friday.
The Treasury on Friday also extended a general license protecting Venezuela-owned refiner Citgo Petroleum from creditors through February 3 that was set to expire on December 20. It was a far shorter extension than the last one Treasury issued in June, which had a six-month duration.
Washington has protected the Houston-based company from creditors in recent years even amid a court-organized auction of shares in its parent company, PDV Holding. The license temporarily bans transactions with a Venezuela-issued bond collateralized with Citgo equity.
A US judge in November authorized the sale of shares in the parent of Citgo Petroleum to an affiliate of Elliott Investment Management, following his approval of a $5.9 billion bid from the company in a court-organized auction to pay Venezuela-linked creditors.
The sale order, which is pending Treasury Department approval, was the last major legal step to wrap a two-year auction aimed at paying up to 15 creditors for debt defaults and expropriations.
