Housing and planning minister Brandon Lewis has told Parliament that the Government intends permission in principle (PiP) for the development of certain land to be limited to “housing-led development”.
That clarification came during exchanges during the committee stage of the housing and planning bill. The legislation allows the Communities Secretary to make regulations granting PiP for the development of land allocated in “a qualifying document”. This covers local plans, neighbourhood plans and the new statutory registers of brownfield land.
In committee last week the minister stressed that development must be housing-led in order to qualify for PiP. But he also made it clear that secondary legislation yet to be introduced by the Government would allow for mixed-uses to be included in housing-led developments.
Lewis confirmed: “As long as a site allocation includes residential development, local authorities will be able to grant PiP for other uses.”
The minister also explained that the Communities Secretary would have “no direct role in choosing which sites to grant PiP to”. He said the Communities Secretary’s role would be to make development orders providing for PiPs to be granted by certain types of document and to “maintain oversight of how the PiP system will work, including issuing statutory guidance”.
The minister promised consultation on how the new regime will operate including procedural matters for councils when granting a PiP.
Meanwhile government amendments which would allow the Communities Secretary to ask the Mayor of London or a combined authority to prepare a development plan have been inserted into the bill.
Lewis said these new provisions would enable more “targeted and appropriate intervention where a local planning authority has failed to take action to get a plan in place”.
View the transcript of the debate
Roger Milne
Communities Secretary Greg Clark has intervened over proposals for what would be the biggest on-shore wind farm in England earmarked for a site in the Pennines straddling the boundary between Blackburn and Rossendale Borough Councils.
Earlier this year the two planning authorities approved plans by Peel Energy and United Utilities to add a further 16 turbines to the existing 26 at the Scout Moor wind farm. Most of the turbines (14) were due to be located on the Rossendale side of the boundary.
The letter from Clark explaining his decision to hold a public inquiry into the scheme raised four main issues.
These included the extent to which the proposed development is consistent with government policies on protecting the green belt, meeting the challenge of climate change and conserving the natural environment.
Also in the frame is the extent to which the proposed development is consistent with the development plans for the area.
Crucially, the Secretary of State has made it clear he will determine the wind farm project in the light of the Government’s post-election statement on local planning announced in Parliament on 18 June and the amended online guidance issued by the Department for Communities and Local Government on renewable and low carbon energy.
Find out more information about the expansions plans
Roger Milne
Details of a master plan for the ambitious redevelopment of York’s largest brownfield site have been unveiled this week.
York Central, a 72-hectare site in the heart of the city, could be transformed to provide some 2,500 new homes, up to 120,000 square metres of high-quality office space creating up to 7,000 new jobs, the expansion and enhancement of the National Railway Museum (NRM), improvements to the railway station and the creation of a network of public squares, green spaces and routes linking to surrounding neighbourhoods.
Over the past 12-months, the council has been working in collaboration with Network Rail, the NRM and the Homes and Communities Agency towards a high level master plan for York Central labelled as the Kings Cross of the North.
York Central was recently identified as an Enterprise Zone by the Government following a joint bid by City of York Council and the York, North Yorkshire and East Riding Local Enterprise Partnership, which will potentially unlock over £100m to help deliver the York Central site.
Council leader Chris Steward said: “The redevelopment of York Central represents a once in a lifetime opportunity to deliver major growth in York. This will enable us to attract high value jobs, deliver new and much needed sustainable homes and create world-class public spaces which will help define the future for our city. We will also reduce the pressure to build on York’s green belt.”
Roger Milne
Gladman Developments has won an appeal determined by Communities Secretary Greg Clark for a 54-home scheme at Hook Norton, Oxfordshire refused by the local planning authority Cherwell District Council. The proposals, in outline, were to a limited extent in conflict with the neighbourhood plan for the area.
The appeal site involved 2.7-hectares of agricultural land located to the north of Hook Norton, on the east side of Sibford Road. The site lay outside but immediately adjacent to the development boundary of Hook Norton as defined in the 1996 Cherwell District Local Plan.
The inspector who held the recovered appeal recommended the scheme should go-ahead. Clark agreed even though he acknowledged the residents of the homes faced possible smells from an adjoining farm and possibly problems from insects.
In his decision letter Clark acknowledged that the local authority could demonstrate a five-year supply of housing land. However Clark insisted that the proposals would boost local housing supply, including the fact that some 35 per cent of the housing would be as affordable dwellings. This factor weighed heavily in favour of the appeal, argued the Communities Secretary.
“Overall” stated the letter, “the SoS considers that the benefits of this sustainable development would clearly outweigh the harm in terms of the limited conflict with the Hook Norton Neighbourhood Plan and the slight adverse effect on future occupiers as a result of odours generated by the adjacent Redlands Dairy Farm.”
View the decision letter and inspectors report
Roger Milne
Funding for garden towns and starter homes
Ministers have announced over £9m funding in total for two proposed garden town developments, one in Oxfordshire and the other in north Essex, and to help kick-start its ‘Starter Homes’ initiative.
As part of the initiative £8m has been to local authorities to help 27 sites across England prepare for the first wave of ‘Starter Homes’.
The funding will support councils in enabling ‘Starter Homes’ on local brownfield sites that are currently underused or vacant, through measures such as clearance, remediation, demolition and site investigations.
Over £1m funding is being allocated to help both the development of the Greater Didcot Garden Town in south Oxfordshire which could provide 15,000 new homes and proposals for a number of garden village communities in north Essex involving the county council and three district councils. These could provide 35,000 new dwellings.
Listed building consent poll
A third of listed building owners polled about applying for listed building consent (LBC) said their experience was poor, according to a survey just published by the Historic Environment Forum with the support of advisory body Historic England.
However half those involved said they had a good experience of the planning process. Those who did not go ahead with their application for LBC seem to be put off by the cost of skilled professionals and the complexity of the planning process.
The survey noted that since 2012/13, the number of listed building consent applications has grown, whereas all other planning applications have stabilised at lower levels than the peak of 2004/5.
This is in the face of further decreases in local authority staff. Since 2006, the number of archaeological specialists has fallen by 23 per cent and the number of conservation specialists has fallen by 35 per cent.
Key devolution legislation makes waves
The administration’s cities and local government devolution bill has been scrutinised by both Houses of Parliament and received its third reading in the Commons this week. The legislation will now return to the Lords where peers will consider Commons amendments.
The bill make provision for the election of mayors and additional functions for combined authorities and is a key building block for the devolution of power from central to local government.
View more information on the bill
NPs voted through in Cheshire, Nottinghamshire, West Yorkshire and West Sussex
Four more neighbourhood plans received a yes vote at their referendums last week. The Walton NP in West Yorkshire achieved a 95 per cent vote in favour on a 34 per cent turn out. The Climping NP in West Sussex achieved a 93 per cent vote in favour on a 44.5 turn out. The Harworth & Bircotes NP in Nottinghamshire achieved an 85 per cent vote in favour on a 13 per cent turn-out. While the Norley NP in Cheshire saw 95 per cent vote yes on a 20 per cent turn-out.
View the Walton Neighbourhood Plan
View the Climping Neighbourhood Plan
View the Harworth & Bircotes Neighbourhood Plan
RIBA urges minimum space standards
The Royal Institute of British Architects has urged the Government to insist on minimum space standards for all homes, in every location. The organisation has argued that the administration’s recently introduced so-called Nationally Described Space Standard should become part of the building regulations.
The institute complained that the standard won’t solve the problem of inadequate housing because it is voluntary and too complicated for local authorities to introduce.
According to research commissioned by RIBA outside of London the average new 3-bedroom home is missing 4 square metres, the size of a family bathroom.
It also pointed out that new three bedroom homes in London are 25 square metres bigger than in Yorkshire, the size of a double bedroom and family living room. The smallest three bedroom homes surveyed were missing 9 square metres, the size of a double bedroom.
RIBA claimed its survey showed that more than half of the new homes being built today are not big enough to meet the needs of the people who buy them.
Logistics report
The property industry has called on central and local government to do more to recognise the importance of the logistics sector in terms of boosting the economy and providing jobs.
A report called ’Delivering the Goods’ published by the British Property Federation (BPF) and researched by planning consultancy Turley, has outlined the contribution the logistics sector makes to the UK some £100bn Gross Value Added (GVA) per year.
The BPF called on central government to recognise the important role the logistics industry plays in the wider economy as the industrial sector faces increasing competition for land from higher value uses like housing. It said local councils should ensure that industrial land is given adequate provision in local plans.
The report estimated that the logistics sector directly supported a minimum of 56,000 businesses and employed 2.2 million people, some eight per cent of the UK’s workforce. The survey found that employment in warehousing operations increased by 40 per cent between 2009 and 2013.
London developments
- Plans for up to 13 new London bridges and tunnels along the River Thames would “unlock areas for development”, Mayor Boris Johnson has insisted after launching the report ‘Connecting the capital’ which features new crossings between Fulham in the west and Dartford in the east. Transport for London (TfL) has already launched public consultations on two of the crossings at Gallions Reach and Belvedere, both on the east side of the conurbation.
- Proposals for the City of London’s tallest tower, One Undershaft, have been unveiled. The 73-storey skyscraper would be slightly shorter than the Shard but would be the second highest building in the capital. At 309.6 metres, it would be 80 metres taller than the nearby Cheesegrater, which stands at 224m, and would dwarf the 180 metre high Gherkin. The project involves a public square at its base, a free public viewing gallery and a sky-high restaurant.
- East London’s Hackney Council has approved a mixed-use scheme at 201-207 Shoreditch High Street which will comprise a 200-room hotel as well as office floor space including so-called “creative” facilities with shared amenities and roof terraces.
Housing figures
Latest official figures show 66,640 new affordable homes were delivered in the last year in England. Ministers claimed this represented the highest annual increase since 1993. The Department for Communities and Local Government also said the numbers of new affordable and social rented homes were up by nearly two-thirds in the last 12 months. The department insisted over 270,000 new affordable homes had been delivered since 2010.
Meanwhile separate figures from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) revealed that in the six months from April and September 2015 there were 10,592 housing starts on site and 9,471 housing completions delivered through programmes managed by the agency in England (excluding London) except those administered by the HCA on behalf of the Greater London Authority.
The majority (7,572 or 71 per cent) of the housing starts on site in the six months to 30 September 2015 were for affordable homes. This represents a decrease of 20 per cent on the 9,439 affordable homes reported between 1 April and 30 September 2014.
LGA housing commission launched
The Local Government Association has launched a Housing Commission to explore new routes to house building, so councils can accelerate the building of more homes.
The LGA claimed that councils built nine times more homes between 2010 and 2015 than between 2000 and 2005. The association has argued that 230,000 new homes are needed each year and private developers have failed to provide more than 150,000 homes a year for more than three decades.
Builder ‘red tape’ review
The Government has promised another so-called ’Red Tape’ review which will allow house builders a further chance to canvas the removal of unnecessary and ineffective rules and enforcement procedures.
The key starting points for the review are based on the priorities raised by the earlier Housing Implementation Task Force:
- Roads and infrastructure rules for new housing developments
- Environmental requirements, particularly EU rules such as the Habitats Directive and wider EU environmental permit requirements
- Rules that affect utilities (such as electricity, gas and water – as well as broadband infrastructure).
The Government is keen to look at the changes made to the Construction, Design and Management Regulations, as well as any examples of EU rules that are being implemented too strictly.
Bristol airfield development site sold
The former Filton Airfield in Bristol, a strategic development site, has been sold to Malaysian developers YTL Utilities.
The 142-hectare site was previously owned by BAE Systems and has been bought by YTL Utilities for an undisclosed sum.
Planning permission for 2,675 new homes and 25-hectares of office and industrial use was granted by South Gloucestershire Council earlier this year.
Green light for Salford homes
Silverlane Developments (Greengate) Ltd has been given the go ahead by the city council for 300 new homes in two landmark towers in Salford.
The £50m development, known as Norton Court, involves buildings of 34 and 14 storeys and will provide a mix of one, two and three bedroom flats.
It will also include 473 square metres of commercial space at ground level, basement car parking, landscaping and links to the riverside walkway along the River Irwell.
The 0.19-hectare car-park site is part of a wider residential-led mixed use regeneration strategy by the council which aims to deliver 1,826 homes in the area over the next 15 years.
Stratford upon Avon town centre makeover
Stratford-on-Avon District Council has given the go-ahead to UK & European Investments to redevelop Bell Court, previously known as Stratford Town Square.
The £30m redevelopment will include new retail floor space, a four-screen Everyman cinema and a new restaurant as part of a 6,503 square metre project. The 14th-century bell that previously hung in Bell Court will be reinstalled at the High Street entrance to the site.
View the news story on BBC.co.uk
1,800-home ‘Surrey village’ project
Dunsfold Park Ltd, the company which owns and operates Dunsfold Aerodrome, has submitted plans for 1,800 new homes, an expanded business park and community facilities including a country park to Waverley Borough Council. The company says the development would be in the form of a new ‘Surrey village’.
The council refused plans for 2,600 homes on the brownfield site back in 2008. Unlike much of the borough the aerodrome is neither in green belt or the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).
View more information about Dunsfold Park
Power project moves
- A judge at the Court of Session has said the Scottish Government’s decision to approve a 67-turbine wind farm near Fort Augustus was “defective” following a judicial review brought by conservation charity the John Muir Trust. Lord Jones said ministers reached their decision on SSE’s Stronelairg project “in breach of environmental obligations”.
- Tata Steel has been given a development consent order to build a new power plant, which will be fuelled by gases produced at its Margam site at Port Talbot, south Wales.
- Court of Appeal judges have overturned a High Court decision which backed the approval given by Denbigh County Council for two wind turbines on the outskirts of the North Wales village of Llandrillo which resident Andrew Jedwell has been fighting for several years. The appeal court judges decided that the judge who dismissed Jedwell’s earlier High Court challenge was mistaken. They have sent the case back to the High Court for reconsideration in the light of a procedural irregularity during the earlier High Court hearing.
Tintagel bridge designs
English Heritage has unveiled short-listed designs for a new 87 metre high footbridge at “one of the most spectacular historic sites in Britain”. The heritage body plans to build the £4m structure to reconnect two sites at Tintagel Castle in north Cornwall.
Toxteth terrace regeneration wins Turner Prize
A regeneration scheme for derelict houses in Toxteth in Liverpool has won Britain’s leading contemporary art award, the Turner Prize.
The £25,000 prize went to London-based architecture and design collective Assemble, who have revamped 10 terraced houses in the area.
Judges praised what they called “a ground-up approach to regeneration and development in opposition to corporate gentrification”.
Roger Milne
The high speed rail link connecting Crewe to Birmingham will open six years ahead of schedule in 2027, Chancellor George Osborne and Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin announced this week.
The Government claimed this move, affecting the section of the HS2 route from Fradley in the West Midlands to Crewe, would deliver a major boost to the Midlands, Northern Powerhouse and Scotland. This section is now designated officially as Phase 2a.
In a parliamentary statement McLoughlin said: “We intend to accelerate Phase 2a so that it opens six years earlier than planned, in 2027. This will bring more capacity and faster HS2 services to the north-west of England, including Crewe, Liverpool, Manchester and Scotland much sooner than originally planned. Our plans will help to support growth and deliver jobs more quickly.”
Powers to build this section of the route will be sought through a separate hybrid bill which ministers intend to introduce to Parliament in 2017. HS2 Ltd has now procured Professional Services Consultants (PSCs) to support the hybrid bill development.
The Transport Secretary has issued safeguarding directions for that part of the route to ensure that new developments in this corridor do not affect the ability to build or operate Phase 2a or lead to excessive additional costs. Safeguarding has also triggered the statutory blight regime.
In a related but separate development plans to integrate Leeds’ proposed HS2 station with the city’s existing railway station have been announced.
The Government has also published a progress report on the Northern Transport Strategy, which includes a progress update across the full range of the strategy, including international connectivity, freight, smart and integrated ticketing, strategic roads and Northern Powerhouse rail.
The Chancellor also confirmed that former Director General of the CBI, John Cridland is to be the first Chair of Transport for the North (TfN), a new body created to help transform transport connectivity across the ’Northern Powerhouse’ area.
Roger Milne
Planning and housing minister Brandon Lewis has insisted that measures in the housing and planning bill which change the planning regime for travellers and gypsies did not remove the duty on local authorities to assess their housing needs and make provision for sites.
His clarification came during the committee stage of the legislation in the Commons this week. It followed comments from Labour back-bencher Grahame M Morris MP who had quoted Catriona Riddell, the strategic planning convenor for the Planning Officers Society. She had intimated that the new regime risked misinterpretation and could provide local authorities which were reluctant to plan for travellers “an excuse not to do it”.
Lewis said he supported the duty on local authorities to make provision for travellers and gypsies. “I want to reinforce and make clear the fact that this clause does not remove the requirement to assess the specific accommodation needs of Gypsies and Travellers.
“Local housing authorities will still need to consider their protected characteristics and cultural links to caravan dwelling. Local housing authorities will continue to decide how best to undertake their duties to assess the needs of all their residents and those who resort in their area. This will be in accordance with the legal obligations in the Equality Act 2010 and, as was rightly outlined, human rights considerations.”
He added: “We wish to assist local authorities in meeting their duties and will therefore be happy to consider incorporating any necessary elements of the current ‘Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Needs Assessments Guidance’ in wider planning guidance, to which local authorities must have regard.”
View the parliamentary transcript
Roger Milne
Planners must ensure they refer to the correct legislation when considering applications affecting heritage sites, the Local Government Ombudsman has stressed.
The watchdog has highlighted this requirement following a complaint about Northampton Borough Council whose planning officers recommended councillors grant planning permission for a café extension in a conservation area, within a short distance of a Grade 1 listed building.
The planning officer involved in determining the application consulted with the council’s conservation officer, who said any works to the café would impact upon the setting of the listed building and upon the character and appearance of the conservation area.
But the planning officer omitted the conservation officer’s recommendation in his report to members and recommended approval of the application. The Ombudsman noted that the officer also failed to base his recommendation on the most relevant legislation, the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 which imposes a duty to pay special attention on both preserving the building or its setting, and also preserving or enhancing the character or appearance of a conservation area.
During the Ombudsman investigation it became apparent the council had not consulted with Historic England (then English Heritage). The watchdog also uncovered correspondence from Historic England which showed this was not the first occasion the council had not consulted properly with them on planning applications affecting historic assets.
The Ombudsman upheld the complaint after ruling that the council’s failure to have regard to a material planning consideration (that of the setting of the listed building and conservation area) was fault. It also found the council’s failure to consult with Historic England was fault, and there was fault in the way the council validated the application contrary to its own planning policy.
To remedy the complaint the LGO recommended that the council apologises to the complainant, introduces conservation training for all its planning officers and undertakes an immediate review of its procedures for dealing with planning applications which affect heritage assets.
The council has accepted the watchdog’s report and apologised to the complainant. In a statement it said it had begun to implement the Ombudsman’s recommendations. “On this occasion the service we provide clearly fell short of what people have a right to expect and we apologise.”
Roger Milne
The Government should not back the building of a third runway at Heathrow until a number of key environmental conditions can be met, MPs have urged.
That’s the view of the Commons Environmental Audit Committee which this week published a report insisting that if the administration opts for expansion at Heathrow it must be able to reconcile this with meeting legal air pollution limits.
The all-party group of MPs also said that ministers would have to be in a position to commit to covering the costs of surface transport improvements, introducing a night flight ban and be able to show that an expanded Heathrow would be less noisy than a two-runway Heathrow.
A decision is due later this month on the independent Airport Commission’s recommendation for a bigger Heathrow.
Committee, Huw Irranca-Davies MP said: “To defer dealing with the environmental impact of a third runway would be irresponsible and could lead to legal challenges as a result of the potential damage to public health from increased air pollution and noise.
“If the Government decides to accept the Commission’s recommendation for a third runway in principle, we will seek assurances from the Secretary of State for Transport that environmental conditions will be met before it is given final approval.”
Roger Milne
Islington Council in north London has welcomed confirmation from the Government that the value of land should reflect planning requirements.
It comes amid growing concern that developers and landowners are manipulating the development viability process to build fewer affordable homes.
Islington and other London councils have found that developers sometimes disregard planning policies about building affordable homes when bidding for land. They later claim they cannot afford to build affordable homes because they have paid so much for the land.
However, in a recent letter to Islington Council the Government Legal Department said it is the Secretary of State’s “unambiguous policy position” that “land or site value… should reflect policy requirements”.
Councillor James Murray, the council’s executive member for housing and development, said: “Londoners desperately need more affordable housing, and we need to make sure developers are making a fair contribution.
“However we, and many other types of council across London, are concerned that developers are using the viability process to argue they can’t afford to provide much or any affordable housing because they paid too much for land.
“We are therefore pleased to have a clear confirmation from the Government’s legal department that the value of land should reflect policy requirements, which of course includes affordable housing.”
Roger Milne
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