Unmet Needs
Delivering places and development which people need is at the heart of the planning system.
The most recent update to the Government's National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which was published in August 2026, reaffirms the purpose of the planning system is to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development, which is meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
How then can we as planning professionals help to support sustainable development? And what
We need housing. Not just traditional housing, but a mix of housing. Affordable housing of various types, accessible housing for older and disabled people, assisted living, student housing, and a whole host of other types of places that people can call home.
We also need to support economic growth. This means delivering land and buildings for various employment uses, such as offices, retail, freight and logistics, industrial buildings, agricultural and farming businesses, warehouses, and more.
It doesn't stop there, but boosting the supply of housing and unlocking economic growth are at the forefront of the Government's objectives in the reform of the planning system, including the updated NPPF, as highlighted in the Minister of State for Housing and Planning's October 2026 Letter to the Chief Executive of the Planning Inspectorate.
Throughout the NPPF, there is an emphasis on supporting development which would address an evidenced unmet need. What are Viable Placemaking doing to help address this?
Viable Placemaking are a town planning consultancy who specialise in assessing and addressing unmet needs. Over the recent years, our work has included reviewing a variety of socioeconomic factors, development uses, and local delivery to provide comments on whether there is an unmet need and, if so, how development can support in meeting this need.
Examples of our assessments and local needs reports include:
Housing Needs
Housing Type Needs
Affordability
Affordable Housing
Disabled Persons Housing Needs
Self Build
Use Class B8 (storage and distribution)
Industrial Land
Retail
Overall Employment Needs
Our assessments have helped inform landowners and developers with which type of development to pursue at the planning stage and continued right through the planning process to providing expert advice at planning appeal stage.
Additionally, depending on the scale of the development, we can tailour assessments to the specific scheme or site. For example, we have prepared 'Housing Type Needs Assessments' at both the site-specific/locality level, right up to local authority wide, and as part of both planning application/appeal submissions and local plan reps.
Since the update to the NPPF, we have seen an increase in enquiries of enquiries and questions about how applicants and their agents can assess and address unmet needs. For more information on this and how we can support, please don't hesitate to get in touch.
