Welsh stalled sites and s106s
New research published by the Welsh Government has identified over 400 sites across the country where development is currently stalled. Nearly half of them are held up because of problems with a Section 106 agreement. Most involve residential schemes, proposals for over 7,600 homes are currently on ice according to Hyder Consulting that carried out the research and produced a report.
The exercise has recommended that all Welsh local planning authorities should produce supplementary planning guidance specifically about planning obligations. The administration has been recommended to produce advice and to encourage planning authorities to seek pre-application advice.
Standard agreements should be available on line and provided at the pre-application stage, Hyder proposed.
While the report found that “no single factor” was responsible for site development stalling, “difficulties and delays in securing finance, resulting in a subsequent need for re-negotiation of s106 agreements” was identified as a key factor.
Social town planning manifesto launched
A manifesto calling for the “rebirth of creative social town planning” has been launched by a coalition of organisations and individuals led by the Town and Country Planning Association.
The #Planning4People manifesto urges the Government to give councils back power over permitted development.
It also wants ministers to rebalance the National Planning Policy Framework so that outcomes for people are as important as the needs of land-owners and developers.
The manifesto wants local plans to have a much clearer social function and urges the restoration of a comprehensive framework of place-making standards for housing including mandatory minimum standards for accessibility and space.
TCPA chief executive Kate Henderson said: “The manifesto represents the views of a broad cross-sector coalition of organisations and individuals who share a common belief in the value of planning to improve the quality of our lives and the condition of our communities”.
Manifesto supporters include the Planning Officers Society, Friends of the Earth, the Landscape Institute, the Wildlife Trusts and the LGIU.
View more information on Planning4People
Inspector agrees to suspend Warwick’s local plan examination until May 2016
The Inspector examining Warwick District Council’s draft local plan has agreed to suspend its examination until May next year. This follows progress on addressing housing provision issues including how the planning authority will meet unmet need for neighbouring Coventry.
The draft local plan was rejected earlier this year by the Inspector who advised that it would need a significant review before it could be considered “sound”.
View more information about the local plan examination
Developer’s report spells out how to unlock economic potential of cities outside London
The trade body for the property industry has proposed a clutch of recommendations aimed at local government on how to unlock the economic potential of cities outside London and rebalance the economy.
The British Property Federation’s proposals include; prioritising the upgrade of strategic infrastructure; establishing a shared vision for city-regions and creating a strong identity.
The BPF has also made the case that for devolution to work, all functions must be considered in the round, from planning and skills to health and design, and not be restrained by issues of constitutional governance, such as elected mayors.
The Federation has stressed that housing tenure issues are critical alongside the need for strong leadership. “Areas need a determined leader who will help drive the shared vision and articulate it clearly to potential investors” insisted the BPF.
Faith and planning report
The Royal Town Planning Institute has backed a new report from the Faith and Place network containing 15 key recommendations for faith groups, planners, developers and local authorities.
Among the recommendations are:
- Faith groups should take a more active involvement in the development of local plans
- Councils should review data on planning applications to ascertain whether refusals are above average from faith groups and take appropriate action if required
- Planning authorities should prioritise protecting space for social infrastructure, including places of worship
- Greater use of ‘section 106’ funding from developers for creation of buildings suitable for use as places of worship.
Malton urban extension refused
Outline proposals for a 500-home urban extension on land near Malton in North Yorkshire have been rejected by Rydale District Council on the advice of officials.
The Fitzwilliam (Malton) Estate wanted to build the new community, provisionally named High Malton, on land off the Castle Howard Road.
Reasons cited for refusal included concerns over the size of development, air pollution, traffic problems, lack of social housing and damage to the views of areas such as the Howardian Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
London round-up
- Transport for London (TfL) is to release more than 121 hectares of land to help create more than 10,000 new homes across London. The land will be developed over the next decade to provide new homes, offices and retail floor space. Some 67 per cent of this phase of development is in travel zones one and two.
- Newham Council has deferred determining the planning application for West Ham United’s existing Upton Park stadium, the Boleyn Ground, because of a wrangle over the amount of affordable’ housing provision in the residential redevelopment. Currently some 22 per cent of the proposed 838 new homes would be affordable.
- London Mayor Boris Johnson has published ‘An A-Z of planning and culture’, which, for the first time, outlines the practical steps that can be taken to integrate and protect culture and support new cultural activity in developments. Publication came amid growing concern that artists and creative talent are being squeezed out of the capital because studios and workspaces are becoming unaffordable.
- Residents of the West Kensington and Gibbs Green estates in west London’s Hammersmith and Fulham area have urged Communities Secretary Greg Clark to support their case for an alternative plan for the 760 homes threatened with demolition as part of the Earl’s Court redevelopment. The residents want Clark to allow them to exercise their ‘Right to Transfer’ ownership of the two estates from Hammersmith and Fulham Council to a community owned landlord controlled by the residents.
- Westminster City Council has been granted a CPO to re-develop the 1960s-70s Tollgate Estate in the Maida Vale area of central London.
- There are persistent reports this week that proposals for a “mega mosque” in east London have been blocked by the Government, ending a 16-year planning saga. The project would have created a mosque three times the size of St Paul’s Cathedral near the Olympic Park in Strafford. Newham Council had refused permission for the plans.
Energy round-up
- Work has started on installing Europe’s biggest floating solar farm at Hyde in Greater Manchester where the installation of the solar power system at the town’s Godley reservoir is now underway. The development of 12,000 panels, which will cover an area of 45,500 square metres, represents an investment of £3.5m by United Utilities to reduce energy costs.
- An independent oil firm that predicted there were 100 billion barrels of oil under south-east England has raised its estimate to 124 billion. In April, UK Oil and Gas Investments (UKOG) drilled a well at Horse Hill, Surrey near Gatwick airport, and announced the find. It has since raised its estimate, following analysis done by US Company Nutech.
- Communities Secretary Greg Clark has dismissed an appeal over a two turbine onshore wind project earmarked for farmland near Stone in Staffordshire against the recommendation of the inspector who held the recovered inquiry. The SoS said he was not satisfied that issues to do with the schemes’ impact on landscape and townscape quality had been addressed to meet community concerns.
- West Dorset District Council has approved an 11-hectare solar farm near Dorchester which will be located in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Transport developments
- Chiltern Railways has started operating new services into London, connecting Oxford with the capital, following £320m investment by the franchise operator and Network Rail. The new rail link to London, the first from a major British city in more than 100 years, will serve brand new stations at Oxford Parkway and Bicester Village. The stations, specified by Chiltern Railways and built by Network Rail, were officially opened last weekend.
- Highways England has appointed a consortium comprising WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff, Halcrow and Steer Davies Gleaveto lead a study worth £512,000 to explore options for creating a dedicated road link between Oxford, Milton Keynes and Cambridge. The study will consider options for improving connectivity between the towns and cities along from Oxford to Cambridge. It will also extend to the A34 as far as the M4. In particular, it will look at making use of existing roads where possible and considering the case for filling the missing links. The study is due to be completed by autumn 2016.
Legal round-up
- The owner of a well-known nightclub in Brixton, south London has instructed Cornerstone Barristers to bring a judicial review over a planning decision by Lambeth Council she says will lead to the club’s closure.
- A group of residents have secured permission to bring a judicial review claim over Lancashire County Council’s grant of planning approval for the monitoring of seismic activity and water quality at a shale gas site.
- A judge has rejected a legal challenge from a campaigner fighting Yorkshire Water’s plans to cover an historic Victorian waterway with concrete.
- Gypsy families living at an illegal campsite in Berkshire have won permission to appeal a refused application for a judicial review.
Derby flood prevention scheme approved
A major 14-kilometre long flood defence scheme costing over £90m in Derby has been approved by the city council after members were assured that concerns over biodiversity loss raised by the RSPB could be mitigated.
The flood defences along the River Derwent (a mix of walls, embankments, gates and other measures) are designed to protect the city against a 1-in-100-year weather event. The hybrid application was submitted by the ‘Our City Our River’ project.
Councillor Martin Rawson, Deputy Leader of the city council, said: “Planning approval for this scheme marks the start of a new era for Derby with vital flood protection measures and the significant regeneration of key development sites along the riverside.
“We will see the city centre re-connected to the river and the important economic and social benefits associated with a reinvigorated riverside community.”
Sheffield recycled container scheme approval
Sheffield City Council has given the go-ahead for a scheme providing a bar, restaurant, offices, a rooftop garden and a health club in more than 20 recycled shipping containers. The project, which will cost £500,000, is the first of this kind to be approved outside London.
Roger Milne
Communities Secretary Greg Clark has allowed on appeal two major housing schemes, one in Kent, the other in Cheshire, which will provide a total of 715 new homes.
In the case of the Kent development the proposals mean the loss of an area of ancient woodland. In both cases the inspectors who held the recovered appeals recommended the appeals should be successful.
Croupade Strategic Ltd, the developer involved in Kent, had proposed a 500-home scheme, 30 per cent of which would be affordable, on a site at Maidstone which straddled the boundary between Maidstone Borough Council and Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council. Both councils had rejected the proposals. No buildings were envisaged on the latter’s patch although the Secretary of State acknowledged that could change as the proposals were in outline.
Clark’s decision letter agreed that the majority of the area was correctly designated as ancient woodland and that the site had medium to high ecological value at local level.
However he also agreed with the inspector that the anticipated absolute loss of 0.03 hectares of ancient woodland would be acceptable given the significant social and economic benefits of the housing in an area where the local plan was out of date and the harm to biodiversity would not be “significant”.
In the case of the other appeal, a Gladman Developments proposal for up to 215 new homes on land at Winsford refused by Cheshire West and Chester Council, Clark acknowledged that the project breached the requirement that it should meet the development brief for the area.
But Clark’s decision letter insisted: “the degree of harm caused by allowing this appeal in advance of the development brief and in conflict with policies in both the local plan and the Winsford Neighbourhood Plan would be very limited.”
View the correspondence for land east of Hermitage Lane, Maidstone, Kent
View the correspondence for Land off Rilshaw Lane, Winsford, Cheshire
Roger Milne
Warwick District Council has spelled out its case for suspending examination of its local plan until May 2016 and is waiting to hear if the inspector considering the strategy is going to accept the arguments.
The inspector is on record as agreeing that “a suspension of the examination may be an appropriate way forward” but he has also made it clear he has reservations over the scale of additional site allocations required, the extent of change to the submitted plan and the realism over the timescales needed to carry out the additional work.
In a letter signed by councillor Andrew Mobbs, leader of the planning authority, Warwick points out it has signed the memorandum of understanding with its neighbouring authorities over the portion of Coventry’s unmet need Warwick will attempt to accommodate.
Warwick has also told the inspector that its officers estimate it needs to allocate land for approximately 5,200 additional dwellings over and above the submitted local plan allocations.
The letter insisted: “It is our intention to allocate sites. The process for doing this is already well under way.”
It added: “Whilst it is still too early to provide information on any specific site options, officers are looking at the potential of further green belt releases in the vicinity of Coventry as a way of providing at least some of the additional land that needs to be allocated.
“We are of the view that such an approach, if applied carefully, will be consistent with the local plan strategy.”
Roger Milne
Wokingham Borough Council has approved proposals for up to 1,500 homes (some 35 per cent affordable) plus a neighbourhood centre at Hogwood Farm in central Berkshire. The scheme is the subject of a hybrid application, mainly outline.
The 110-hectare site forms the southern part of the so-called Arborfield Garrison Strategic Development Location (SDL) to the south of the Ministry of Defence’s Arborfield Garrison, which is becoming surplus to requirements.
Planning permission for the redevelopment of that area, the northern part of the SDL, has already been granted. Some 2,000 new homes are planned there.
The Hogwood Farm scheme, a residential-led development, also includes sports fields, some 12,000 square metres of employment floor space, a primary school, a BMX track, skate-park, allotments and public open space.
The site is currently a mix of open fields in agricultural use, parcels of mature woodland as well as a Wildlife Heritage Site and the Hogwood Industrial Estate. The proposals involve the demolition of all buildings on the site including two houses and the whole of the industrial estate.
The entire site falls within the Thames Basin Heath Special Protection Area. The proposals include provision for nearly 30 hectares of so-called Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace (SANG). The site is allocated for development under the borough’s core strategy which anticipates nearly 14,000 new homes in the period 2006-2026.
View more information on the Arborfield Strategic Development Location
Roger Milne
Historic England’s latest Heritage at Risk Register, just published, highlights that a Napoleonic watch tower in Essex, a lighthouse in Sunderland, a 20th century concrete church in Birmingham and the remains of a First World War munitions factory in Northamptonshire are among England’s heritage now at risk.
On the brighter side, this annual assessment showed that Margate’s Dreamland rollercoaster, the Post-War bear pit at Dudley Zoo and vast airship sheds in Bedfordshire have been rescued and are no longer at risk.
For the first time, Historic England (formerly known as English Heritage), has compared all types of heritage on its register to find out the types of heritage that appear the most, from domestic buildings, to protected wrecks, archaeological ruins to industrial sites and places of worship.
Barrows, the ancient burial mounds that cover the length and breadth of the country, are the most at-risk making up 15.6 per cent of the Register (853). Nationally, much is being done to improve their fate.
Since 2014, 150 barrows have been rescued and taken off the Register. Historic England has done this through working with owners, in particular Natural England, to find ways of restoring these ancient sites.
Residential buildings, anything from Roman Villas and Georgian town houses to individual prehistoric huts and roundhouses, are the second most common (6.6 per cent; 360).
Settlements, small concentrations of dwellings such as deserted medieval villages, are the third most common type on the Register (6.4 per cent; 352).
A third of all sites on the 2010 register have been rescued, which means Historic England has beaten its target of getting 25 per cent off the register over five years. Across the next three years, the agency aims to take a further 750 sites off the Register.
Roger Milne
A repeat of one of the biggest mapping projects of the 20th century has revealed that the built-up areas of the English, Welsh and Northern Irish coasts has increased by 42 per cent over the last 50 years. Over 17,500 hectares more of the coast is “urbanised”, equivalent to the area of Manchester.
That is one of the key findings of an initiative undertaken by the National Trust which has updated an original survey carried out in 1965 as part of its Neptune Campaign. That was the first time the impact of development on the coastline was assessed methodically.
The new mapping report, which compares the two surveys, showed that nearly three quarters of the coast of England, Wales and Northern Ireland remains undeveloped, providing an important resource for people and nature.
This latest exercise has highlighted that much of the land that has remained undeveloped is now protected by landscape or nature conservation designations such as Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
In fact, of the 3,342 miles identified as pristine in 1965, some 94 per cent of this has some form of statutory protection.
The National Trust insisted that the findings of the two surveys illustrated the importance of a robust and well-enforced planning system.
Peter Nixon, Director of Land, Landscapes and Nature for the Trust, said: “50 years after we launched our Neptune campaign, most of the UK coast remains undeveloped. Our coastline has been spared the sort of sprawling development that other countries have suffered.”
View more information about the Neptune Coastline campaign
Roger Milne
Housing project funding dispute
The Department for Communities and Local Government has hit back at a BBC investigation which identified a slow take-up so far of a £525m fund designed to unlock hundreds of housing projects stalled by the economic slowdown.
The BBC said a Freedom of Information request to the Homes and Communities Agency, which runs the scheme, had revealed that 18 months after the launch of the initiative only two projects had benefitted – in Cornwall and Essex. Just over a £1m had been used up on these two projects.
Housing Minister Brandon Lewis insisted: “There have been high levels of interest in this scheme that will deliver thousands of homes for hard working families.
“We are considering 86 bids for funding worth more than £250m as well as having already signed eight contracts for £11m and a further 33 contracts worth £68m are in the process of being signed.
“The remaining funding is available to support house builders between now and 2017.”
View the news article on the BBC
Swansea developments
Swansea City Council and Neath Port Talbot Council have prepared a joint draft master plan designed to provide a more integrated approach to planning along the so-called Fabian Way corridor.
This stretches for five kilometres either side of the A483 Fabian Way, which forms the eastern gateway road approach to Swansea city centre from junction 42 of the M4.
Aim of the document is to capitalize on existing and emerging developments in the area. These include the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon, Swansea University’s Bay Campus, the Bay Studios and the University of Wales Trinity St David’s plans for a new waterfront campus at Swansea’s SA1.site.
The draft document backs the development of a knowledge economy cluster along Fabian Way that would complement the city centre’s regeneration, create new jobs and boost economic prosperity across the Swansea Bay City Region as a whole.
In a separate but related move the planning authority is drawing a high buildings strategy which after public consultation will become supplementary planning guidance.
London round-up
- Ambitious plans for the transformation of the area by Paddington station in west London whose centrepiece will be a 224-metre high tower have been revealed by the property company behind the Shard. The scheme also includes over an acre of new public realm, an open-air roof garden with panoramic views of the capital, new access to the Bakerloo underground station, 200 new homes, over 14,000 square metres of commercial floor space and shops, restaurants and cafes.
- London Mayor Boris Johnson has pledged to announce ten more ‘Housing Zones’ by next May as he revealed the identities of the last two zones of the initial 20-strong tranche. Zones in Merton and Lambeth, both in south London, have been unveiled. Johnson has also committed to publishing planning advice designed to safeguard music and cultural venues across the capital, after a report showed more than a third of the capital’s grassroots music venues were lost since 2007. In the future developers will be specifically required to mitigate potential conflicts between new developments and long standing live venues.
- The City of London Corporation has committed to build 3,700 new homes by 2025, in what will be the biggest house-building programme since the completion of the Barbican estate in 1976. The homes will be built on the City’s existing housing estates and land outside the Square Mile. Some will be social housing, and some will be offered at market rate.
- Members of the east London Borough of Barking & Dagenham have rejected plans for a 28-storey residential tower proposed for land next to Barking railway station. Officers had recommended approval.
Energy project developments
- Cheshire West and Chester Council’s strategic planning committee has refused permission for a five megawatt solar power farm proposed by Peel Energy for a green belt location at Hapsford on land south of junction 14 of the M56. Officers had recommended approval.
- Banks Mining has submitted plans for an open cast coal mine close to a nature reserve at Druridge Bay to Northumberland Council.
- Allerdale Borough Council is apologising to residents in Oughterside near Aspatria, Cumbria after ignoring their objections and granting planning permission for a single wind turbine near their homes. Residents complained to the Local Government Ombudsman. The watchdog decided an apology was in order. The planning authority said: “We fully accept the decision of the Ombudsman and have already made all necessary changes to policy, procedures and training to ensure that similar issues cannot happen again
- Communities Secretary Greg Clark has dismissed an appeal over a single turbine on farm land near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire against the advice of the planning inspector who held the recovered inquiry. The SoS’s decision letter said the scheme would have an adverse effect on heritage assets and the nearby Chilterns AONB and that residents’ concerns had not been fully addressed.
- The developers behind the Navitus Bay project, a huge offshore wind farm earmarked for a large area off the Dorset and Hampshire coasts denied consent recently by the Government, have decided not to mount a legal challenge over the refusal.
Legal round-up
- A High Court judge has quashed the grant of outline planning permission for a residential development in Wiltshire over the appearance of bias.
- Lambeth Council in south London has secured a £382,000 confiscation order against a landlord who converted a property into flats without planning permission.
- A High Court judge has given the Licensed Taxi Driver Association permission to bring a judicial review challenge in relation to the construction of the East-West Cycle Superhighway by Transport for London which claims the scheme required planning permission.
- Proposals to connect Manchester’s two biggest railway stations (the subject of a Development Consent Order under the 2008 Planning Act regime) have received High Court backing despite claims they will damage a key part of rail history.
Large sites help
The Department for Communities and Local Government has published its large sites infrastructure programme prospectus and is inviting bids for the financial elements of this initiative. A £1bn Local Infrastructure Fund is available alongside planning and technical help to steer schemes of at least 1,500 new homes from conception to planning approval. This scheme will run until 2020.
International design, architecture and planning consultancy AECOM has been chosen to draw up a master plan for the Government’s flagship garden city at Ebbsfleet in Kent. Public consultation will begin next month and the strategy will be published next year.
Tesco sites deal
Retail giant Tesco is selling off more than a dozen sites in London, the South East and Bath that it no longer wants to develop to property firm Meyer Bergman as part of a £250m deal which could see the land used for residential-led mixed-use schemes which could provide up to 10, 000 new homes.
The deal includes sites in Bath; Epsom, Surrey; London (Fulham, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Lewisham, New Barnet, Tolworth and Woolwich) and St Albans.
Chinese investment targets
Chinese investment group SinoFortone has unveiled plans to invest more than £5bn in the UK focusing on waste power and food facilities in Holyhead and Port Talbot, Wales and the Paramount London TV and film theme park proposed for an extensive site at Ebbsfleet, Kent. The deals coincide with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Britain this week.
View more information about the London Paramount project
Horley CPO
Reigate and Banstead Borough Council has agreed in principle to compulsory purchase over 68 hectares of land at Balcombe Road, Horley, near Gatwick Airport for a business park.
Anfield regeneration
Consultation on the latest plans for the regeneration of the Anfield district in Liverpool has begun. The plans include the final phase of the restoration of Stanley Park. The move is part of a £260m scheme that includes expanding Liverpool FC’s stadium as well as creating new homes and offices.
View more information on the project
Two more local plans make the grade
Two more local plans have been approved by planning inspectors subject to modifications. East Staffordshire District Council’s development plan provides for 613 dwellings per annum during the plan period 2012-2031.
Meanwhile Torbay Council’s strategy covering the so-called English Riviera has passed muster on the basis of 8,900 new homes over a shortened plan period of 2012-2030
View more information about the East Staffordshire local plan
View more information on Torbay Council’s local plan
Grantham homes approved
Proposals from Gladman Developments for a scheme of up to 300 new homes on the western edge of Grantham have been approved in outline by South Kesteven District Council. The site was allocated for development in the district council’s approved core strategy.
Buckinghamshire crematorium re-run
Re-submitted proposals for a crematorium on the edge of Bierton near Aylesbury have approved by Aylesbury Vale District Council, after the original scheme’s approval was quashed by a High Court judge on the grounds the officer dealing with the application blundered over the treatment of Great Crested Newts affected by the project.
The facility is planned by the Chilterns Crematorium Committee made of three neighbouring local authorities, Aylesbury Vale, Chiltern and Wycombe District Councils.
Corrie curtains
The former Coronation Street set in Manchester is to be demolished, despite a campaign to save it. Developer Allied London bought the Quay Street site in a joint venture with Manchester City Council and plans to build flats, shops and offices there.
The ITV soap was filmed there from 1982 until January 2014, when production moved to MediaCity UK at Salford Quays. Manchester City Council’s planning committee voted to approve the redevelopment last week.
View more information on the development
Threatened heritage assets
An Edwardian swimming baths and an 18th century country mansion in south Yorkshire are among the most under-threat buildings in the world, according to a heritage group.
Moseley Road Baths in Birmingham and Wentworth Woodhouse near Rotherham, Yorkshire, are listed on the 2016 World Monuments Watch.
View more information on the 2016 World Monuments Watch
Stirling Prize winner
Burntwood School, a large comprehensive girls’ school in Wandsworth, south west London, designed by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM) has won the RIBA Stirling Prize 2015 for the UK’s best new building.
Roger Milne
The Government published its landmark Housing and Planning bill on Tuesday when the 119-page legislation had its introduction in the House of Commons without debate.
Among the provisions in this wide-ranging bill is the statutory framework for the Government’s ‘Starter Homes’ scheme which includes a new legal duty to be placed on councils to guarantee the provision of 200,000 starter homes on all reasonably sized new development sites. These will be offered to first-time buyers at a 20 per cent discount on market price.
Another key measure provides ministers with powers to intervene to ensure that all councils have local plans in place by 2017.
In addition, the legislation introduces the requirement for local authorities to keep registers of brownfield land, an extension of the right-to-buy discount to some housing association tenants and a duty on local authorities to sell their most expensive vacant homes.
The bill also provides for automatic planning permission in principle on brownfield sites and introduces planning reforms to support small builders by placing a new duty on councils to help allocate land to people who want to build their own home.
Furthermore the legislation includes measures to simplify and speed-up neighbourhood planning, reform the Compulsory Purchase Order regime, extend the use of the planning performance regime to smaller planning applications and provide the Mayor of London with additional planning and housing powers.
Also stipulated is a new requirement that “prescribed financial benefits which might accrue to the local area as a result of granting planning permission” are recorded in reports by planning committees and the planning authority itself.
In a separate but related move the Government has announced that local authorities will be able to bid for a share of a £10m Starter Homes fund (part of a £36m package to accelerate the delivery of starter homes) by helping councils prepare brownfield sites that would otherwise not be built on for starter homes.
View more information on the Housing and Planning bill
Roger Milne
Planning and housing minister Brandon Lewis has announced that the temporary office-to-residential permitted development (PD) right, that was due to lapse at the end of May 2016, will be made permanent.
The minister said that, in addition, the new permanent right would allow office buildings to be pulled down and replaced with new residential buildings.
He also confirmed that those who already have permission to convert offices to homes under the temporary PD right will have three years in which to complete the change of use.
In addition, new permitted development rights will enable the change of use of light industrial buildings and launderettes to new homes.
Those areas that are currently exempt from the office to residential permitted development rights will have until May 2019 to make an Article 4 direction if they wish to continue determining planning applications for the change of use.
The rights to allow for demolition of offices and new build as residential use will be subject to limitations and prior approval by the local planning authority. Further details are to be provided in due course.
The new permitted development rights for the change of use of light industrial buildings and launderettes to residential use will be subject to prior approval by the local planning authority. Further details are promised.
Roger Milne
The Government this week clarified how it plans to implement its promise to allow an element of housing in schemes requiring Development Consent Orders (DCO) under the planning regime for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs).
The Planning and Housing bill, published this week, contains a clause which specifies that homes will be allowed to be included in DCOs under the proposals in the bill long as they are “wholly in England” and “on the same site as, next to or close to” the relevant NSIP or “otherwise associated with” the NSIP.
The explanatory note accompanying the bill said further guidance would set out the amount of housing that could be granted consent as “related housing development” under this new arrangement.
The expectation is that a limit of 500 homes is likely to be imposed under the guidance, that the limit will not depend on the size of the proposed development and that related housing will be able to be included in an NSIP even if it is not in the relevant council’s local plan.
Infrastructure planning specialist Robbie Owens from law firm Pinsent and Owens said: “This is a sensible and welcome addition to the NSIPs regime.
“However, we expect some scrutiny to be given to the expected 500 dwellings limit given the difficulties that some large housing developments experience in terms of delivery which the NSIPs regime can effectively overcome, particularly in terms of land assembly, multiple consents and numerous complex project components.”
View the Housing and Planning bill (pdf)
Roger Milne
Planning Portal Blog 