Planning Bill 2016 – What does this mean for you?
The Queen granted Royal Assent yesterday to the Housing and Planning Bill after a protracted period of parliamentary “ping-pong” ended between the two houses. Townscape: Chartered Town Planning & Heritage Consultants Ltd gives the low-down on the key points.
- Starter homes
The Act promotes the development of starter homes, available to qualifying first time-buyers at a discount of at least 20% less than the market value.
Councils will have a specific duty to promote the supply of starter homes including through the preparation of local plans. Regulations will stipulate that councils ‘may only grant planning permission for a residential development of a specified description if the starter homes requirement is met’. This could include a certain proportion of starter homes to be included, or a ‘commuted sum’ to be paid to the Local Authority for developing starter homes.
While not included in the Housing Bill, the government proposes that the starter homes requirement will apply to sites of 10 units or 0.5 hectares or more ensuring that small sites would not have a compulsory requirement.
- Planning Permission In Principle (PPIP)
Measures will introduce ‘planning permission in principle’ on land allocated for development in certain documents such as a brownfield register, development plan or neighbourhood plan.
Developers will also be able to apply direct to councils for a grant of PPIP. There is then a subsequent stage for scrutiny of further technical details, but councils will be precluded from revisiting the principle.
The Act introduces a requirement for councils to compile and maintain registers of brownfield land suitable for housing, which will be one of the mechanisms for granting PPIP, so in theory PPIP will roll out semi-automatically across the country.
- Extending the Right to Buy
Previously, only council tenants were eligible to Right to Buy for homes they had previously rented, but controversially the Act allows housing association tenants to acquire that same right. Potential buyers must have been tenants for at least three years, the same as with council tenants.
For those eligible, discounts start at 35% on a house and 50% on a flat. The maximum is 70%, but will be capped at £77,900 outside London and £103,900 in London. Around 500,000 housing association tenants are already eligible for some discounts and the new scheme will extend that to a further 800,000.
The government’s intention is that by selling off housing association homes and requiring a replacement to be built, the scheme will, in effect, double the number of homes available. It will also raise the proportion of home-owners in England, which has fallen over the last few years. However the National Housing Federation argues that since 2012, only 46% of homes sold off have been replaced by new ones, despite a requirement for local authorities to do so. One problem is that councils – particularly those in urban areas – cannot find enough land to build on.
- Mandatory rents for high income social tenants
Regulation will give Registered Providers the authority to increase rent levels on social tenants with an income over a specified threshold. The explanatory notes make reference to the Budget announcements, with income thresholds initially to be set at £30k outside London and £40k in London. Level of rent will be set by regulations and may differ depending on income and geographical area.
- The Bill also proposes:
Enhanced powers for the Communities Secretary in plan preparation and examination, giving developers the ability to submit applications for non-major development to the Planning Inspectorate in cases where the council has a very poor track record in speed or quality of decision-making
Townscape are Chartered Town Planning & Heritage consultants and we provide detailed, impartial and practical advice to new and existing clients on all matters concerning Town Planning. For an informal chat or to discuss your town planning or development requirements, call our Director Jason Kennedy on 01524 701537 or 07583 152804 or contact us via our secure on-line form at Contact Chartered Town Planners.
