As John “Hannibal” Smith never quite said on The A-Team.
You’ve read the various summaries of the 12 December 2024 NPPF and accompanying announcements.
This is just a set of links to the various documents and a summary of what they tell us as to what is to come.
I give you:
- Planning minister Matthew Pennycook’s statement, Building the homes we need, in the House of Commons.
- The following revised elements of the government’s planning practice guidance:
- Housing and economic needs assessment – the revisions setting out how the new standard method is to be applied
- Housing supply and delivery guidance
- Plan-making – the only revision being to include this new passage:
“Local plan intervention
The Secretary of State has wide-ranging plan-making intervention powers under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. What are the policy criteria that apply to certain intervention decisions?
Decisions on intervention will be taken in line with relevant legal tests and should have regard to plan progress and local development needs. The Secretary of State may also consider other matters that they deem relevant to the case, including sub regional or regional or national development needs.
These criteria will be used by the Secretary of State to inform decisions on exercising local plan intervention powers set out in sections 27 and 27A of the 2004 Act. They will also be used to inform decisions on local plan and minerals and waste plan intervention taken under sections 15HA and 15HD of the 2004 Act (when amended by the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023). They replace the previous criteria in the 2017 Housing White Paper.
Planning authorities will be invited to put forward any exceptional circumstances that they think that the Secretary of State should consider in relation to any plan-making intervention action”
- Viability – the only revision being to include this new passage:
“Golden Rules for Green Belt development
Where development takes place on land situated in, or released from, the Green Belt and is subject to the ‘Golden Rules’ set out in paragraph 156 of the National Planning Policy Framework, site specific viability assessment should not be undertaken or taken into account for the purpose of reducing developer contributions, including affordable housing. The government intends to review this Viability Guidance and will be considering whether there are circumstances in which site-specific viability assessment may be taken into account, for example, on large sites and Previously Developed Land.
Prior to development plan policies for affordable housing being updated in accordance with paragraph 67 in the National Planning Policy Framework, the amount of affordable housing contributions required are subject to an overall cap of 50% (see paragraph 157 of the NPPF). This 50% cap does not prevent a developer from agreeing to provide affordable housing contributions which exceed the 50% cap, in any particular case.
In paragraph 157, the highest existing affordable housing requirement that would otherwise apply means the highest requirement that the local planning authority could seek in line with its existing policy. For example, (a) if a policy is framed as “up to 30%” then the uplift is applied to 30%; and (b) if a policy is framed as “30% subject to viability” then the uplift should be applied to 30% regardless of viability. The percentage uplift should be applied to the proportion of affordable housing that would otherwise be delivered on site.”
What is still to come? Well, we can glean at least the following from the above:
From the Government’s response document:
- Whilst of course we are expecting a paper on strategic planning before Christmas, ahead of a Devolution Bill, the response document says this: “Given that government has committed to introduce a universal system of strategic planning, specific wording to address how strategic plans are tested will be considered in a future revision to the National Planning Policy Framework. No changes to the National Planning Policy Framework will be made at this point.”
- Possible further measures in relation to brownfield development: “Following the launch of the consultation, the government published a paper on ‘Brownfield Passports – Making the Most of Urban Land’. The purpose of the paper is to consider whether there are opportunities to go further in terms of providing faster and more certain routes to permission for urban brownfield land. Although not a formal consultation, the paper is intended to inform further discussions on this issue. The government will take into account the views received in deciding what further action could be taken, with the intention that any changes to policy would be incorporated as part of future planning changes to deliver a set of national policies for decision making.”
- “We will also be publishing further guidance on Green Belt reviews in January 2025, to ensure a more consistent approach to the identification of grey belt land. This will assist in ensuring inappropriate or high performing land is not identified for release or development and will set out how the performance of Green Belt should be assessed. This guidance will also provide guidance on how to ensure that parcels of land identified for development do not fundamentally undermine the purpose of the wider Green Belt.” This will also include further guidance on the identification of grey belt.
- “…we intend to publish planning practice guidance on Local Nature Recovery Strategies as soon as possible in January 2025. This will further clarify the role of Local Nature Recovery Strategies when it comes to enhancing the Green Belt and provide greater certainty for stakeholders when it comes to the role of Local Nature Recovery Strategies in the planning decision making process and the plan-making system.”
- “In the context of our wider reforms to planning policy, we will review the Planning Policy for Traveller Sites next year.”
- As regards viability assessment in relation to green belt sites: “To make sure that the viability system works to optimise developer contributions, allowing negotiations only where genuinely necessary, the government intends to update viability planning practice guidance. Prior to new viability guidance being published, site specific viability assessment should not be used. As part of the review, government will consider the circumstances in which site specific viability assessment is allowed, with specific reference to large sites and Previously Developed Land.” “Overall, the government still believes there is merit in providing more guidance on benchmark land values. However more work is required to review and then implement the approach. The government is therefore considering the treatment of benchmark land values as part of a review into the viability planning practice guidance in 2025.”
- “The government is considering making reforms to the compulsory purchase process and compensation rules to improve land assembly, speed-up site delivery and lower costs of development delivered through compulsory purchase powers to ensure benefits are delivered for communities. Any government reforms to the compulsory purchase process and compensation rules will be considered as part of the changes to be made in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill and will be subject to the consultation process for that Bill.”
- The government will consider further the approach to exception sites and will also take further steps to encourage the delivery of mixed tenure developments “including setting a site size threshold above which sites must deliver a mix of tenures”. It will consider what further steps it can take to support social and affordable housing as part of its national development management policies promised for next year.
- In relation to measures to encourage build out of permitted schemes:
“To bring greater transparency and accountability we will go further, and take the steps necessary to implement build out reporting. We will implement the following provisions in the Levelling–up and Regeneration Act 2023, following technical consultation:
Housing developers will be required to formally notify local planning authorities before they commence development (via development commencement notices) and then report annually to them on their actual housing delivery (via development progress reports). This will ensure that local planning authorities can clearly identify where delays occur, enabling them to work more effectively with developers to tackle the issue.
We will also be bringing forward a measure to provide local planning authorities with the power to decline future planning applications made by developers who fail to build out earlier planning permissions granted on land in the authority’s area at a reasonable rate.”
- Updated policy guidance will be published on how the ‘vision-led’ approach to transport planning should apply in practice.
- “After considering the comments received requesting further clarity on terminology and the application of policy for renewable and low carbon energy development, we will shortly be updating planning practice guidance to support these changes in practice.”
- “The government plans to publish a 12-week consultation on land use early in the New Year. The consultation will inform the development of a Land Use Framework for England, to be published in 2025. This will set out the government’s vision for long-term land use change and focus on the principles for land use decision making and priority areas for policy change.”
- On energy standards for developments:
“The government will bring forward future standards next year which will set our new homes and buildings on a path that moves away from relying on volatile fossil fuels and ensures they are fit for a net zero future. We will also keep building regulations under review to ensure that new buildings are built to mitigate the risk of climate change, including through a potential review of Part O, which seeks to mitigate the risk of overheating, and water efficiency options.” “…we intend to update planning practice guidance to assist local authorities in considering carbon emissions within the plan-making process, and to support developers in using carbon accounting to reduce carbon emissions as part of their development proposals.”
- “We will consider whether further changes are required to manage flood risk, coastal change and sustainable drainage systems provision through the planning system when we consult on further planning reform, including a set of national policies related to decision making.”
- On planning application fees:
“The government intend to bring forward regulations to implement the increase of householder application fees at the earliest opportunity, subject to Parliamentary procedures. The charge for prior approvals notifications will also be increased at a similar rate to the increase for householder application fees. Through these regulations the government also intend to increase fees for applications to discharge conditions and to introduce a new banded fee structure for S73 applications to reflect different development types. The previous government consulted on this proposal in the consultation ‘An Accelerated Planning System’ in March 2024.
The government have announced their intention to take forward measures in the proposed Planning and Infrastructure Bill to introduce a power for local planning authorities to be able to set their own fees. As part of these proposals, we will conduct a comprehensive review of all national fees in order to establish a robust baseline for full cost recovery of fees and to inform a national default fee.”
“The government intends to take forward measures in the proposed Planning and Infrastructure Bill to introduce a power for local planning authorities to be able to vary or set their own fees. The government intends to pursue a model that would enable local variation from a national default fee. In varying or setting their own fees, local authorities will not be able to be set fees above costs. The government will provide guidance on fee setting, including what costs can be recovered. Where local planning authorities set their own fees, or vary from a national fee, they will have to consult and publish their schedule of fees. The Secretary of State will have the power to intervene where it is considered fees are excessive or unjustified. The government will continue to monitor the performance of local planning authorities. These measures are all subject to Parliamentary procedures.
The detail of fee localisation will be set out in affirmative regulations and supported by guidance. We will also undertake a benchmarking exercise to establish a robust baseline for full cost recovery of fees and to inform a national default fee. We will consult further on the details of local fee setting model and the benchmarking of costs in due course.”
From the minister’s statement to the House of Commons:
- “As part of the Government’s plans to deliver much needed affordable homes, Homes England is today launching a new clearing service to help unblock the delivery of section 106 affordable housing. This follows reports in recent months of developers experiencing greater difficulty in selling section 106 affordable homes for which they have planning permission. This new service will help improve the functioning of the market for affordable housing, by supporting buyers and sellers to find each other more effectively – with developers able to share details of unsold section 106 affordable homes for registered providers and local authorities to search. The service aims to facilitate dialogue and partnerships that allow homes to be delivered in line with the originally agreed tenure mix set out in section 106 agreements. It will also provide new data and insight into the section 106 market. The Government is calling on all developers with uncontracted section 106 affordable homes, including small and medium builders, to proactively and pragmatically engage with the new clearing service, and on registered providers and local planning authorities to engage positively as providers and enablers of affordable housing. This is an important step in unlocking these homes and driving delivery.”
(Details of Homes England’s new Section 106 Affordable Housing Clearing Service are on its website).
- “As proposed in the summer, we will bring onshore wind back into the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects consenting regime, and raise the threshold of projects for both onshore wind and solar to 100MW. We will follow through with prescribing data centres, gigafactories and laboratories as types of business or commercial development capable of being directed into the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects consenting regime, depending on the scale of the project.”
That’s all for now, until the next door on MHCLG’s advent calendar opens.
Simon Ricketts, 14 December 2024
Personal views, et cetera
SIMONICITY 