Spotlight falls on the future of development in Reading

Reading’s updated Local Plan – which will provide a blueprint for town planning over the next seventeen years – has taken a step forward as it is released for a final round of public consultation. Associate planner for Savills Jon Sebbage outlines the key proposals and considers the challenges at play as the town seeks to navigate competing priorities for growth.

Reading Local Plan in context

The Reading Local Plan Partial Update (LPPU) is an update to the Reading Borough Local Plan that was adopted in November 2019.

Its publication within the last week follows a previous phase of public consultation last year and represents a final opportunity for residents, businesses and local organisations to provide their input before the draft is finalised and submitted to the Secretary of State.

A review undertaken by officers in March 2023 showed that around half of existing Local Plan policies, including in relation to the amount of development, spatial strategy and development management policies, needed updating based on changes to national policy and guidance. Subsequently work to prepare an updated Local Plan commenced later in 2023, intended to replace the current adopted Local Plan.

The LPPU is the latest in a series of Local Plan consultations being undertaken by planning authorities across the Thames Valley region ahead of the new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) being published. These include similar Regulation 19 Pre-Submission consultations currently being undertaken by Wokingham, South Oxfordshire and the Vale of White Horse.

Housing delivery proposals

Most notably, the latest document proposes a substantial 20 per cent increase in the amount of new housing in the borough, from 689 new homes a year in the adopted Local Plan (and 800 proposed in last year’s consultation document) to 825 homes a year.

However, despite this uplift, the new number remains below the current Standard Method requirement of 878 new homes a year. This will likely have implications for housing delivery in the borough’s neighbouring authorities – which are also experiencing significant uplifts in housing need – based on Reading’s unmet need.

The proposed housing requirement is also far below the 1,023 new homes a year identified under the proposed new Standard Method, as discussed in our recent article ‘Housing targets, the NPPF and the Thames Valley’.

Because the proposed housing requirement falls within 200 dwellings of the proposed new Standard Method figure, the LPPU could be examined under the current National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), based on the transitional arrangements set out in the latest draft NPPF. Although it will be interesting to see the approach taken by the Secretary of State, given the Government’s overall growth agenda.

This approach follows that of Wokingham, South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse, whose current Regulation 19 Pre-Submission consultations also set housing requirements below the proposed new Standard Method – again effectively seeking to circumvent the new draft NPPF reforms and highlighting the challenges in meeting the Government’s overall housing targets.

Forging sustainable growth

The need to plan for increasingly higher levels of housing in the borough (and wider region) is leading to key challenges and tough choices needing to be made – and will continue to do so. This is particularly so in Reading, given other wider, identified needs to respond to the climate emergency, address flood risk and heritage constraints, support sustainable travel, improve cultural opportunities and deliver increased affordable and family housing, whilst strengthening the role of Reading in the Thames Valley.

The Regulation 19 draft LPPU seeks to respond to these challenges through a number of new brownfield site allocations, including at The Oracle and other town centre sites, as well as important proposed updates to policies relating to density, tall buildings, housing mix, affordable housing and a new urban greening factor.

The latest draft now includes plans to increase minimum densities in the town centre to at least 260 dwellings per hectare (draft Policy H2), and to identify additional areas where tall buildings may be suitable – if appropriate justification can be demonstrated (draft Policy CR10) (new proposals introduced following the previous Regulation 18 consultation).

There is also recognition of newer forms of residential accommodation through the introduction of a new policy on ‘purpose-built shared living accommodation’ also known as co-living (draft Policy H15), as well as continued support for Build-to-Rent development (draft Policy H4), which is being increasingly brought forward across the town centre.

Alongside this, the Regulation 19 draft Local Plan seeks at least 20 per cent of dwellings to have three or more bedrooms (draft Policy H2) and requires a set proportion of landscaping and planting to be delivered on sites through an Urban Greening Factor of at least 25 per cent (draft Policy EN19).

Navigating competing needs

It is clear that a difficult balance needs to be struck in order to support delivery of the quantum of new housing whilst meeting competing wider needs – notably the need for increased affordable and family housing, as has been evident in recent major developments in the borough. This is likely to intensify further in the future following the forthcoming publication of the new NPPF later this year.

The consultation will close on December 18. After that, it is intended that the LPPU will be submitted to the Secretary of State in February 2025 for examination. As highlighted, while the LPPU could be examined under the current NPPF, it will be interesting to see the approach taken by the Secretary of State, given the Government’s overall growth agenda, balanced with the constrained nature of the borough and other priorities that Reading is seeking to achieve.

View and comment on the Pre-Submission Draft of the LPPU here:

Sign up to receive our weekly free journal, The Forum here.