Today the housing and planning minister Gavin Barwell said local authorities will need to create, maintain and publish these registers to help housebuilders identify suitable brownfield sites quickly.
The government said this measure promises to unlock derelict or underused land for thousands of new homes.
As set out in the recent housing white paper, the registers are part of the government’s programme to speed up house building.
Barwell, said: “We need to build more homes in this country so making sure that we re-use brownfield land is crucial.
“We want to bring life back to abandoned sites, create thousands more homes and help protect our valued countryside.
“These new registers will give local authorities and developers the tools to do this.”
The regulations implementing brownfield registers and permission in principle through brownfield registers have been laid before parliament today as part of secondary legislation relating to the Housing and Planning Act – they will come into force in 21 days’ time.
According to the government, permission in principle will make it easier for developers to ascertain if particular sites are suitable before they draw up costly proposals to secure full planning permission.
Further guidance on the brownfield register requirement is expected to be released in June.
Whitehall has also allocated the £3bn Home Builders Fund to support the development of brownfield sites with an additional £1.2bn to help build 30,000 starter homes on those sites.
