I’m conscious that these posts (this is the 149th) sometimes don’t age well – they try to capture a point in time and I don’t go back to change them unless I’ve got something really wrong or, worse still, there’s a misplaced apostrophe (they’re written on an ipad, on a train or at the kitchen table, as fast as my two fingers can move, so bear with).
So I thought I’d take the opportunity to note a few post-post updates…
CIL
Since my 15 December 2018 CIL Life post, the claimant in Giordano has applied to the Court of Appeal for permission to appeal, having been refused it by Lang J. Will 2019 see the Court of Appeal grapple for the first time with the joys of CIL liability?
Since my 9 November 2018 An Update On CIL: Reform Promised, Meanwhile Continuing & Increasingly Expensive Uncertainties post the Government published Reforming developer contributions: technical consultation on draft regulations (20 December 2018). The purpose of the consultation is to “ensure that the draft regulations deliver the intended policy changes and do not give rise to unforeseen consequences.” The consultation runs until 31 January 2019. Supporting guidance will accompany the final regulations.
As well as delivering on the proposals announced in October 2018 (I assume – I haven’t yet worked through some of the algebraic amendments), the draft regulations exempt starter homes from the levy, where the dwelling is sold to individuals whose total household income is no more than £80,000 (£90,000 in central London). The draft regulations also make a number of other clarifications to address various glitches.
The Trinity One litigation
My 8 September 2018 What If? The Trinity One Case post commented on a situation where a developer had sought to resist a claim for an affordable housing commuted payment on the ground that the basis for calculating the payment, the Total Cost Indicator figures previously published by the Housing Corporation, had ceased to exist. I mentioned that the position could change as a result of separate litigation underway in relation to the developer’s attempt to reduce its section 106 liability by way of the section 106BA/BC procedure.
Well, the position did indeed then change as a result of R (City of York Council) v Secretary of State (Kerr J, 22 October 2018). The case is of little general interest now given that it concerns the mechanism whereby developers could apply for modification or discharge of affordable housing obligations in a section 106 agreement on the basis that modification or discharge was required to achieve an economically viable development, which mechanism was brought to an end on 30 April 2016. But it will have been immense interest to the parties. Kerr J accepted Trinity One’s position that (1) its appeal against refusal of its section 106BA application was not out of time because it was sufficient for the application to have been made by 30 April 2016 and (2) the application could be made even after the development had been completed.
Land value capture
My 31 August 2018 Market Value Minus Hope Value = ? post was written whilst the House of Commons Communities and Local Government Select Committee was taking evidence in relation to its land value capture inquiry. The committee reported on 13 September 2018 and the Government’s response was published on 29 November 2018.
The Committee urged that the Government should consider appropriate mechanisms:
“Our view is that there is scope for central and local government to claim a
greater proportion of land value increases through reforms to existing taxes and charges, improvements to compulsory purchase powers, or through new mechanisms of land value capture.”
However, the response is a classic straight bat:
“The Government agrees that there is scope for central and local Government to claim a greater proportion of land value increases. The Government’s priority is delivery, in line with the Housing Minister’s commitments to provide more higher quality housing more quickly.
Changes to land value capture systems can have profound impacts on the land market in the short term, even where they are sensible for the longer term. Accordingly, the Government’s priority is to evolve the existing system of developer contributions to make them more transparent, efficient and accountable. It will of course continue to explore options for further reforms to better capture land value uplift, providing it can be assured that the short-run impact on land markets does not distract from delivering a better housing market.”
Raynsford Review
My 9 June 2018 Judicious Review post commented on the interim report published by the Raynsford Review. The final report was published on 19 November 2018.
Public procurement
Finally, a long time ago, in my 6 September 2016 section 123…Go! post, I commented on Holgate J’s ruling in Faraday. That judgment has now been overturned in R (Faraday Development Limited) v West Berkshire Council (Court of Appeal, 14 November 2018) – see the Landmark Chambers summary.
2019
Plenty happened in planning law in 2018, despite much political focus being away from domestic issues. What will 2019 bring? Feel free to subscribe to this blog to get one quick take a week on what seems interesting to me at least. (And, shameless plug, do subscribe as well to Town Legal’s weekly updates of planning law cases and/or of Planning Inspectorate appeal decision letters).
Here’s to another year.
Simon Ricketts, 28 December 2018
Personal views, et cetera
SIMONICITY 