Housing secretary Michael Gove’s December 19 revision of the NPPF has prompted some early analysis by members of our Expert Forum.
Philip Waddy, managing director of WWA Studios (pictured right), said: “Just in time for Christmas!
“Michael Gove, SoS for DLUHC, on Tuesday (December 19), published the revised text to the NPPF following a press conference at the RIBA offices in central London.
“The much-delayed publication of the NPPF follows the department’s equally delayed response to the 2022 NPPF consultation and to which the amendments published on Tuesday most accurately reflect.
“Whilst the detailed analysis will take time to complete, a summary of some of the key takes aways from this morning’s press conference is as outlined below:
- Green Belt review is now largely discouraged.
- Confirmation that ‘Standard Methodology’ housing targets are an advisory starting point for determining housing need. As a reminder much of the conjecture around the standard methodology when first announced, related to its detrimental impact on housing delivery for most local authorities in plan making terms – deemed to be in the region of a 30 per cent reduction when compared to previous housing need calculations. The unhelpful soundings from Government in relation to the language of ‘advisory’ paint a picture of reduced focus on housing delivery generally. This has already led to a number of local authorities undertaking their own reduced housing need assessments rather than the Government’s ‘standard methodology’. How much worse this gets for the housing sector remains to be seen.
- A requirement for uplift in housing supply in certain cities and urban centres states that this should be met within those areas, effectively ending the duty to cooperate in relation to unmet need for housing supply. This will likely lead to a further reduction in private and affordable housing delivery in areas where it is needed most.
- The removal of the need to demonstrate a five-year housing land supply, even on a reduced housing need basis is another significant amendment. So long as a local authority has an up to date Local Plan that allocates a five-year housing land supply compliant amount of development then year on year delivery of that plan will not be reviewed until after the Local Plan has been in place for five years. In addition, those local authorities who have a Local Plan under preparation reaching Regulation 18 or 19 are afforded yet further protection needing to demonstrate only a four-year supply in this period of advanced plan preparation.
“At a time of significant need, it is difficult to comprehend the huge backward step to incentivising delivery of well-considered housing development that this amended version of the NPPF represents.
“Much of the bluster around this announcement today was framed around the SoS becoming tough on LPA’s delivery of planning decisions within statutory determination timescales, seeking to publish a league table of performance for LPAs for applications determined within eight to 13 weeks.
“The loophole of extension of time agreements is also being closed as the league table will seek to tighten these requests from being granted in the first place. Quite how this will work in practice remains to be seen. Perhaps we will revert to the former status quo – refuse everything that hasn’t been resolved within the eight to 13 week target.”
Andy Moffat, head of planning for Savills in Cambridge (pictured centre), said: “The issues surrounding housing affordability in Cambridge are well documented and the potential to create connected, sustainable, green communities is an important priority.
“The ongoing success of Cambridge relies on its ability to attract and retain young people to live and work in the city – and we look forward to seeing further details of how the new development corporation will co-ordinate growth over the next 20 years.
“The Secretary of State identified that Cambridge has an important role to play in the UK economy and that growth to date has been constrained. Mr Gove went on to say that whilst local authorities will not need to redraw the Green Belt to accommodate housing needs, the Green Belt around Cambridge was most likely to be revised to achieve its full potential as an economic dynamo for the country. However, this will be a matter for the development corporation to assess.
“Throughout his speech the Secretary of State also emphasised the need to deliver infrastructure alongside new housing and employment growth. In particular he noted the ongoing concerns regarding the availability of water to serve the level of growth already planned, let alone any additional growth, but is satisfied that a solution will be forthcoming.
“More broadly, Mr Gove’s focus is clearly on local authorities not only preparing and adopting up-to-date Local Plans, but also delivering the strategies they contain. All of this means that there will likely be an increased focus on the proposals contained in the adopted Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire Local Plans, which are now over five years old.”
Abigail Jones, director in the development team at Savills Cambridge (pictured left), said: “These latest proposals are, of course, still at an early stage and we await further details with interest. But any moves that can improve housing affordability in the city are to be welcomed.
“Savills own research has shown that issues around housing affordability could potentially have a long-term impact on continued business growth within Cambridge. Younger households are only able to access a very small proportion of the homes on sale and average rents are a significant proportion of many salaries.
“This means some younger households have to live in shared housing within the city or in nearby towns, which is not always fit for purpose and puts even greater stress on an already overworked infrastructure.
“That said, any future development must be given careful consideration in close collaboration with stakeholders. There are a number of new neighbourhoods already under construction or planned across the city and surrounding areas – Cambourne, Eddington, Waterbeach, Darwin Green, Northstowe and Alconbury Weald to name just a few – and policy makers and developers will have to continue to work together if they are going to address housing needs in the decades to come.
“But it’s not just about the number of homes. New funding presents an exciting opportunity for developers, planners and local authorities to deliver a variety of housing products and tenures supported by appropriate infrastructure, community facilities, public open space and environmental enhancement.
“This includes building more affordable housing for sale, but also exploring intermediate rental models, purpose-built rental accommodation, co-living, compact housing and other ideas to better suit the needs of the younger population.”
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