Housing, or rather the lack of it, remains arguably the single most significant issue facing the development sector within England and the attempts to address the shortfall were a key part of the previous administration and continue to be so within the NPPF and the Localism Bill. The approach to an increased delivery of housing is based on many of the same concepts as the existing policy (within Planning Policy Guidance Note 3) though there are some key differences and amendments to consider in the NPPF.
The requirements for Strategic Housing Market Assessments (SHMA) and Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessments (SHLAA) remain within the NPPF, whilst there is a indication that such studies should include working with neighbouring authorities where such housing markets cross administrative boundaries. The key principle of PPS3, in that “everyone should have the opportunity to live in high quality, well designed homes, which they can afford, in a community where they want to live” is retained whilst it is the Government’s key housing objective to “increase significantly” the supply of new homes.
Again, evidence is to be the focus to ensure delivery meets the requirements of an area and the need to ensure a rolling 5 year supply is retained. However, the supply should also “include an additional allowance of at least 20% to ensure choice and competition in the market for land.”
Whilst it is a consistent theme of this Government that housing delivery will be significantly increased, the mechanisms by which this will be enabled include the following:
- No specified brownfield target for new housing development
- Presumption in favour of sustainable development
- Permissions to be granted if relevant policies out of date (such as a lack of demonstrable 5 year supply)
- Permission for market housing in rural areas if would facilitate affordable housing
- Release of significant amounts of public sector land to be developed for new housing schemes
Case Study
Spawforths were chosen by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) to lead the submission of a detailed scheme for the redevelopment of a former colliery in Bentley, Doncaster as the first site in the (previous) Government’s Public Land Initiative (PLI). The previous Government’s attempts to increase the supply of housing into the market involved the HCA purchasing sites and commissioning house builders to construct properties on the basis of a deferred sale back to the house builder. In that sense, this initiative sought to achieve some of the same goals which the present Government is still attempting to address, albiet with less reliance on the private sector and a Government intervention. Given the continued shortage of housing delivery across the country, the mechanisms to increase this delivery remains a key priority within the new NPPF.
For more information on the Bentley project please follow the link below to our project pages.