Introduction
On 13 February 2024, the Government published a report from a review of the London Plan carried out by an expert panel with the aim of increasing house building in the capital, together with two new consultations containing proposed changes to national planning policy and permitted development rights and also legislation amending permitted development rights, all with the aim of boosting development on brownfield sites and the delivery of new housing. In this blog post, we discuss the proposals for planning reform put forward under each of these documents.
Report on house building in London: London Plan review
Before Christmas, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove, requested that Christopher Katkowski KC lead a panel of experts to carry out a review of the London Plan aimed at increasing house building in the capital. On 13 February 2024 the Government published the report from this review.
The primary recommendation of the report is that a presumption in favour of brownfield development be introduced. This presumption would apply to the grant of planning permission for proposals comprising residential development on brownfield land. The report indicates that the introduction of such a presumption in London would accelerate planning decisions and result in between 4,000 and 11,500 additional homes per year being delivered in the capital.
The full report can be accessed at the link below:
Consultation on strengthening planning policy for brownfield development
The Government has published a consultation which proposes to amend national planning policy to boost the building homes on brownfield land. The consultation contains the following proposals (which take into account the recommendations contained in the above London Plan review report):
(1) Changing the wording of paragraph 129 c) of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) so that a requirement is placed on local planning authorities to give significant weight to the benefits of delivering as many homes as possible and to take a flexible approach in applying planning policies or guidance relating to the internal layout of development, particularly for proposals on brownfield land. The new wording of paragraph 129 c) would be as follows (with changed wording in bold):
“local planning authorities should refuse applications which they consider fail to make efficient use of land, taking into account the policies in this Framework, especially where this involves land which is previously developed. In this context, when considering applications for housing, authorities should give significant weight to the benefits of delivering as many homes as possible and take a flexible approach in applying planning policies or guidance relating to daylight and sunlight and internal layouts of development, where they would otherwise inhibit making the most efficient use of a site (as long as the resulting scheme would provide acceptable living standards).”
(2) The Government will require local planning authorities in England’s 20 largest cities and towns to follow a ‘brownfield presumption’ if housebuilding drops below expected levels to make it easier to get permission to build on previously developed brownfield sites. The NPPF currently provides for a presumption in favour of sustainable development to be applied to a local authority where it scores below 75% in the Housing Delivery Test. The Government is proposing that, for the 20 urban uplift areas, this presumption should be applied for applications on previously developed land (brownfield land) where an area scores below 95%.
(3) A change to the threshold for referral of planning applications of potential strategic importance in London to the Mayor of London. Currently this threshold is 150 units and the consultation has requested representations on a new unspecified higher threshold.
The consultation on these proposals will run until 26 March 2024.
The full consultation paper can be accessed at the link below:
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/strengthening-planning-policy-for-brownfield-development
Consultation on changes to various permitted development rights
The Government has published a consultation which proposes to introduce changes to permitted development rights under the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015 (GPDO), covering the following areas:
(1) Changes to certain permitted development rights which enable householders to improve and enlarge their homes.
(2) Changes to the building upwards permitted development rights which enable the upward extension of a range of existing buildings.
(3) Changes to the permitted development right which allows for the demolition of certain buildings and rebuild as homes.
(4) Changes to the permitted development rights which enable the installation of electrical outlets and upstands for recharging electric vehicles.
(5) Changes to the permitted development right for the installation of air source heat pumps.
In the context of boosting the delivery of new homes, changes numbers 2 and 3 above are important. The Government is consulting on proposals to amend the existing building upward permitted development rights to increase the scope of buildings that can benefit from these rights (to include buildings built before 1948) and proposing changes to the permitted development rights to demolition certain buildings and rebuild as homes to increase the scope of buildings that can benefit from these rights (to include buildings constructed after 31 December 1989) and to allow for a larger rebuild footprint.
The consultation on these proposals will run until 9 April 2024.
The full consultation paper can be accessed at the link below:
The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) (Amendment) Order 2024
In addition to the above consultation, the Government has also on 13 February 2024 made legislation in the form of The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) (Amendment) Order 2024 to amend permitted development rights which is stated to come into force on 5 March 2024.
This Order amends Class MA of Part 3, Schedule 2 to the GPDO. Class MA permits the change of use of commercial, business and service uses (uses under Class E) to use as dwellinghouses (C3 use). The Order makes the following changes:
(1) There will no longer be the requirement that a building must have been vacant for a continuous period of at least 3 months immediately prior to the date of an application for prior approval
(2) The floorspace upper limit for buildings changing use under this permitted development right will be removed
Although the above changes should allow a lot more buildings to benefit from this permitted development right, in practice one must still check for any Article 4 Directions removing this right and any restrictive planning conditions or planning obligations under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 which may apply.
The full legislation can be accessed at the link below:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2024/141/made
Note: all comments and views expressed in this blog are merely opinions and provided for information purposes only and do not constitute legal advice which can be relied upon. Should you require legal advice on a matter then please contact us
