The golden thread running through the planning reforms is a drive for beauty. This is the key, the government believes, to ensuring local communities support new housing developments. Some of the changes proposed in the white paper are already underway. We now have a National Design Guide and a National Model Design Code has been consulted on, for example. The Planning Bill is likely to strengthen the role of both documents.
The way local plans allocate development sites will change, with Growth Zones established to identify where development can take place. These will be capable of subdivision to allow different uses in different parts. Protection Zones where development won’t be allowed - presumably incorporating green belt, nature reserves, National Parks etc. - should be designated too. The white paper also proposes establishing Renewal Zones - essentially areas with existing development - to encourage increases in density although there is apparently some debate over how extensive they should be and how they will function in practice.
As you can see, despite all the talk of moving to a “zonal” planning system, the reality will be a system more akin to the current policies map.
The big change is that these Zones will be supported by a much greater level of detail than you would expect for an allocation currently. Instead of a short, vague list of policy requirements, proposals will need to set out how the site would be developed and what that development should look like. That will potentially mean having a full-blown Design Code for each Zone.
That sounds like more work but, in reality, those promoting sites for development usually produce that level of detail anyway - it just doesn’t find its way into policy.
There is a pay-off for that extra detail, however - once the Zones are established, the principle of development can’t be revisited when planning applications are determined. Some have painted this change as anti-democratic, although that is difficult to justify when the Zone will be established in the first place through a democratic process that lasts years and includes a public inquiry. It’s just involving the public at a different stage and in a different way.
Currently local plans include a whole raft of development management policies which set out how planning applications should be considered. These policies cover issues such as flood risk, green belt and development in the countryside. By and large, they are essentially local interpretations of national policies.
In an effort to streamline the planning process and make it more consistent and predictable, the white paper proposes having one set of development management policies which will be used nationally.
That will allow plans to focus more on where development will take place, free up planning officers’ time and speed up the plan making process.
It can take many years for councils to put local plans in place. That’s part of the reason why only around half of councils have an up-to-date local plan. Yet, without a plan, it is very difficult for development needs to be met in anything other than an ad hoc way.
The white paper therefore proposes a speedier process with a statutory timetable of about 30 months. That would be achieved, in part, by the elimination of development management policies and the increased use of technology.
Technology is likely to play a much greater role in how plans are designed. The ultimate objective is to have planning policies that are “machine readable” allowing planning applications to be submitted digitally. Uploading a 3D digital model of the layout rather than a PDF “digital paper” version could, for example, allow any areas where privacy distance standards weren’t being met to be automatically identified.
We won’t get there on day one, but we are likely to see a raft of other improvements like digital proposal maps showing what development is allowed where, and an increased use of social media to distribute notifications about new planning applications (to replace the current “notice on a lamp post” approach). Ten councils are already taking part in a pilot program.
How to capture a fair share of the uplift in land values when planning permission is granted has been a long-held ambition of government. At the same time, developers are frustrated with the unpredictable, slow Section 106 process which requires site-by-site negotiation. It is an area ripe for reform.
The white paper proposes abolishing both the S106 agreements and Community Infrastructure Levy and replacing them with a new Infrastructure Levy, to be charged based on the value of the completed development.
This is much more complicated than it sounds - something the white paper recognises. Is the development value estimated before development starts, or based on actual revenues secured? And how does that change if the completed building isn’t sold? Should the rate of the Levy be the same across the whole country or varied by council area or even within council areas? And how will that ensure affordable housing can still be delivered on site?
The Bill should start to answer some of those questions, although others will be left for future guidance.
To use a housing analogy, after two decades of tinkering, the current planning system resembles an over-extended house - all mismatched brick types and peculiar dormer windows. It functions, to a point, but it isn’t what you would design if you started with a blank sheet of paper. The proposals in the white paper go some way towards getting the architecture right.
The proposals will remove inefficient duplication and stop decisions on the same matters being made on multiple occasions. That should free up time for planning officers to focus on the things that really matter - identifying the best sites and ensuring the developments built are the very best they can be.
One outstanding issue, however, is how housing targets will be set. Currently local plans in England are only aiming to deliver a total of 190,000 new homes each year - less than two-thirds of the government’s 300,000 target. Regardless of the structure of the planning system that delivers planning permission for those homes, if housing targets aren’t right in the first place, we’ll never build enough new homes.
Since its launch in 2008, The Strategic Land Group has worked with landowners across the country to have their sites identified for development in local plans, and to secure planning permission. We do all that work at our own cost and risk. Our return is a share of the value of the site once it is sold, so, if we don’t succeed, it doesn’t cost you anything.
If you know of a site that might benefit from our specialist approach, get in touch today for a free, no obligation consultation.
