July 2024 has been full of updates to the planning industry, beginning on July 4 2024 with the General Election which saw the Labour Government win by a significant majority.
The new Government have certainly hit the ground running with regards to planning and development - beginning with lifting the ban on onshore wind and the announcement of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill within the Kings Speech, which will seek to accelerate the delivery of high quality housing and infrastructure.
On 30 July 2024, Angela Rayner (SoS for Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and Deputy Prime Minister) announced the much-anticipated draft NPPF consultation. This includes an array of updates which seek to promote the delivery of sustainable development.
The consultation is available here and a full, accessible version of the new draft NPPF with tracked changes is available here. While Viable Placemaking's full review as part of our consultation response is pending, we have conducted a high-level review and included our highlights from the consultation below:
Reinstatement of Housing Targets, which were previously changed in the Conservative's December 2023 NPPF update. Additionally, the overall targets have increased, with the Government seeking to deliver 370,000 homes per annum.
The Government are seeking to deliver a significant amount of Affordable Housing. The SoS set out a vision for a "council housing revolution" to deliver the homes the country needs; however, First Homes will no longer be required for 25%+ of affordable homes delivered.
Review of the Green Belt to make it more accessible to deliver development in these locations. Further information Green Belt, Greenfield, and Brownfield land, is available in Viable Placemaking's previous Insight - "Green Belt vs Greenfield Land - what's the difference?"
Introduction of the 'Grey Belt' - which is defined as previously developed land and other land in the Green Belt which has a limited contribution to the Green Belt's five purposes.
The Infrastructure Levy, which was previously introduced by the Conservative Government, has been removed. Viable Placemaking had previously criticised the levy's potential effectiveness.
Linked to the above points, there is further guidance on Viability, including in relation to the Green Belt release. This gives useful indication on how to approach Benchmark Land Value within Viability Assessments for land in the Green Belt and how Councils should apply late-stage reviews.
There are other updates - including regarding the presumption in favour of sustainable development, flood risk, renewable energy, and highway safety - which can be found within the full draft consultation publication.
The proposed updates to the NPPF have already been criticised by some Local Planning Authorities, including West Berkshire District Council who are in the process of preparing a new local plan and have been asked by the Inspector to make amendments to their submitted local plan and find further sites to meet their housing land supply. It is expected this will be exacerbated in council areas where housing supply and delivery has been poor in recent years, such as Basildon Council.
In addition to the above, there have been several other recent announcements which may have been missed in the shadow of the NPPF consultation. The highlights include:
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero announced Great British Energy (GBE) - a new publicly-owned company seeking to drive clean energy and boost energy independence. GBE's founding statement can be accessed here.
In Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council v Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities & Anor [2024] EWHC 1916 (available here), the High Court considered how the "out-of-datedness" of a local plan impacts the decision. Notably, this development was described as "severable" which may be of interest to developers in the context of the Supreme Court's infamous "Hillside" judgement.
The Older People's Housing Taskforce reviewed the options for the provision of greater choice, quality and security of housing for older people. Further details from the Government are available here.
The High Court reviewed a case on the amalgamation of two neighbouring flats into one in London Borough of Lambeth v Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing And Communities [2024] EWHC 1391. The full case is accessible here.
Additionally, to cap off an already packed month of news, on 31 July, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government announced that an expert taskforce would be appointed to spearhead a new generation of new towns to kickstart economic growth and support Britain in building the homes and infrastructure it needs.
Clearly, there is a lot for planning professionals to consider over the coming weeks and months!
Viable Placemaking have extensive experience with all aspects of these key updates and are currently supporting clients with an array of projects, most recently this has included negotiating viability through benchmark land value reviews, new housing development in the Green Belt, and housing needs assessments reviews.
If you have any questions about what these updates may mean for your development, or if you have a site which you think may have planning potential, please feel free to get in touch and a member of our team will be happy to help.