Horsham District Council outlines concerns over proposed planning system changes

The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government is consulting on two documents that will radically change the UK’s planning system.

The first is a white paper that seeks to simplify the current National Planning Policy Framework – and the council said it ‘agrees that the current system does not always deliver good outcomes for residents or developers and change would be welcome’.

The second consultation document proposes a new algorithm designed to help boost the delivery of homes to the Government’s target of 300,000 homes per annum.

Under the proposed changes, Horsham would see its housing targets increased to around double the existing figures.

Horsham District Council would see the biggest increase in West Sussex – with its housing requirement shooting up from 920 to 1,715.

The council believes that this proposal is ‘riddled with problems’ and that imposing ‘an arbitrary top-down calculation will hinder rather than help the reforms proposed in the white paper’.

The new target may come into force before the end of the year, ahead of the planning white paper and without the transitional reliefs envisaged in that paper, the council said.

If that does happen, councils across the country would have to use arbitrary top down housing targets before having the opportunity of building an evidence base to test the deliverability of those targets, according to the council.

This applies particularly to any councils like Horsham, which is in advanced stages of revising its Local Plan under the current system.

Councillor Claire Vickers, the Council’s Cabinet Member for Planning and Development said: “The housing target methodology has been prepared in splendid isolation of the forward thinking reforms proposed in the planning white paper and if introduced will create perverse results that will surely be subject to judicial review.

“Horsham would be required to increase its housing numbers from around 800 homes per annum to 1700 homes – more than doubling the current target in an area that is already suffering from an infrastructure deficit.

“That target is not realistic and the developers we have spoken with agree that it is simply not achievable.

“Worse still, some other councils that have ambitions to accelerate their delivery would see their current targets reduced.

“Recent experience has shown that top down algorithms are a blunt instrument and we hope the Government recognises that and listens to our concerns.”

Explainer: What has the Government proposed?

An eight-week Government consultation on changes to current planning policies and regulations comes to a close on Thursday.

Those changes include altering the way housing figures are calculated – replacing the current local housing need with local housing requirements, essentially adding 300,000 homes per year to the nationwide figures.

In West Sussex, the changes would see an extra 2,234 homes built each year.

The Government also proposes to temporarily lift the small sites threshold, below which developers do not need to contribute to affordable housing, to up to 40 or 50 units.

This would support small and medium-sized builders as the economy recovers from the impact of Covid-19, it said.

It would also extend the current Permission in Principle to major development, which will give landowners and developers a fast route to secure the principle of development for housing on sites without having to work up detailed plans first.

The Government claims the measures will improve the effectiveness of the current planning system.

To read more about the proposals, visit www.gov.uk/government/consultations/changes-to-the-current-planning-system

To have your say on the proposals before 11.45pm on Thursday, visit www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/MHCLG-Changes-to-the-current-planning-system/

The Government has also published its ‘planning for the future’ White Paper – which proposes a new planning system.

The White Paper divides land into three categories – growth, renewal and protected.

In growth areas, outline permission would be automatically given for developments specified in a council’s local plan; renewal areas would be seen as suitable for some development; and protected areas would see development restricted.

Councils would also be able to set aside land in ‘growth’ areas for self-built and custom-built homes.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “The current planning system is complicated, favours larger developers and often means that much needed new homes are delayed.

“We’re proposing a new system which is easier for the public to access, transforms the way communities are shaped and builds the homes this country needs.

“The changes will mean more good quality, attractive and affordable homes can be built faster – and more young families can have the key to their own home.”

The proposals would also change the way that developers contribute to the cost of affordable housing and other new infrastructure such as schools, roads and GP surgeries.

A new national levy would replace the existing Section 106 agreements and the Community Infrastructure Levy, which the Government said would be ‘simpler’ and would ‘provide more certainty about the number of affordable homes being built’.

The White Paper also proposes that all new streets should be tree-lined and that all new homes should be ‘zero carbon ready’, with no new homes delivered under the new system needed to be retrofitted.

A consultation on the proposals ends on October 29.

To find out more, visit www.gov.uk/government/consultations/planning-for-the-future

To have your say on the proposals, visit www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/MHCLG-Planning-for-the-Future/