Local Plan Watch

The Autumn Local Plan Watch comes at an interesting time, in the period prior to the publication of the new Government’s revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) expected in December and following on from the consultation on likely changes held over the summer.

The proposed transitional arrangements for Plan-making set out in the consultation have had a varied effect across our patch. As a reminder, these transitional arrangements set out that the policies in the revised Framework will apply for the purpose of preparing Local Plans from the publication date plus one month unless one or more of the following apply:

1. The emerging annual housing requirement in a Local Plan that reaches or has reached Regulation 19 (pre-submission stage) on or before the publication date (plus one month) is no more than 200 dwellings below the published relevant Local Housing Need figure;

2. The Local Plan is a Part 2 plan that does not introduce new strategic policies setting the housing requirement unless the relevant Local Plan Part 1 has been prepared applying the policies in this version of the Framework;

3. The Local Plan is or has been submitted for examination under Regulation 22 on or before the publication date (plus one month).

Where 1, 2, or 3 applies, Local Plans will be examined under the relevant previous version of the Framework.

Some authorities are pushing ahead, seeking to avoid the proposed uplift in housing requirements generated by the amendments to the standard method. Others have taken the view that they need to hold fire and delay publication until the revised NPPF is published, avoiding any abortive work.

It is clear that the NPPF revisions will bring back the 5-year land supply test that the Conservative Government’s previous NPPF revisions had weakened. This, combined with the slowdown in Plan-making that has been seen in some areas, has already spiked interest in speculative applications across the patch as landowners and developers seek to respond. We recommend clients get in touch with our specialist local teams now to ensure they are ready to grasp the opportunities that are arising.