7th February 2017
There is, of course, much media coverage of todays Housing White Paper, and as always, the debate will revolve around a small selection of items in the document.
But it contains other things; things that we thought our members might be interested in that are maybe not so news worthy, such as:
Effects on how we undertake planning work
- Higher fees and new capacity funding to develop planning departments
- Exploring an improved approach to developer contributions
- Giving communities greater say over design of local developments
- Improve the use of digital tools to make plans and planning data more accessible
- Make plans easier to produce, and we will provide authorities with the support they need
- Consult on new, standard way of assessing housing need (to be in place by April 2018)
- Remove the expectation that they should be covered by a single local plan. Instead, we will set out the strategic priorities that each area should plan for, with flexibility over how they may do so
- Make the evidence needed to support plans more proportionate
- Enable London Plan (and similar strategies) to allocate strategic sites
- Review the consultation and examination procedures for all types of plan to ensure they are proportionate
- Consult on a standardised approach to assessing housing requirements
- Encourage greater use of Local Development Orders and area-wide design codes
- On top of windfall sites, at least 10% of the sites allocated for residential development in local plans should be sites of half a hectare or less
Effects on national policy
- ‘Plan for the right homes in the right place’ – taking the London policy of linking density to transport accessibility and urban land to the rest of the country
- Making more land available for homes in the right places, by maximising the contribution from brownfield and surplus public land, regenerating estates, releasing more small and medium-sized sites
- Giving communities a stronger voice in the design of new housing to drive up the quality and character of new development
- Review national space standards so they allow for more locally appropriate housing types
- Amend national policy to encourage authorities to consider the benefits of estate regeneration, and use their planning powers to help deliver this to a high standard
Effects on how design issues are dealt with
- Expect that local and neighbourhood plans (at the most appropriate level) and more detailed development plan documents (such as action area plans) should set out clear design expectations
- Make clear that design should not be used as a valid reason to object to development where it accords with clear design expectations set out in statutory plans (meaning if there are no specific design policies for an area, objections over and above NPPF requirements will not be upheld)
- Use visual tools such as design codes that respond to local character and provide a clear basis for making decisions on development proposals
- Strengthen the importance of early pre- application discussions between applicants, authorities and the local community about design and the types of homes to be provided
- Recognise the value of using a widely accepted design standard, such as Building for Life in shaping and assessing basic design principles that should be reflected in plans and be given sufficient weight in the planning process.
For a PDF copy of this summary please click here
