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Plans for the future

Local plans are a step in the right direction but more need to be done if Britain is going to get the homes it needs, says Emma Maier

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Latest Inside Housing research finds that just eight months away from the government’s Local Plans deadline, only 40% of councils have an officially adopted plan.

The government has set out a requirement for councils to adopt a Local Plan by March 2017, demonstrating how they will meet local housing need. They are one of government’s key levers in attempting to meet its million homes target and developers believe the plans are needed to create the conditions to support development.

“It is unclear whether Local Plans are making a difference.”

But ministers have blown hot and cold. In 2014, then-minister Brandon Lewis suggested that councils could decide not to adopt a plan and instead rely on the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and its presumption in favour of sustainable development. A few months later he reversed his view, saying he wanted “100% of councils” to adopt a plan – but ruled out imposing a statutory duty to do so.

Local Plans reflect the crux of the challenge: pushing areas to deliver in sufficient numbers while also respecting localism by overcoming nimbyism and securing local support for much needed housing development. It is a difficult balance to strike.

One analysis found that half of councils had been required to increase the number of homes proposed in their plan. Meanwhile, Birmingham’s bid to adopt an ambitious Local Plan to build more was ‘called in’ after it was challenged by local Conservative MP Andrew Mitchell.

For councils, the Local Plan development process is onerous and littered with hurdles (see analysis, page 10), with an expert group concluding the process requires “substantial reform”. It is little wonder that there have already been calls for new housing minister Gavin Barwell to make changes.

As it stands, it is unclear whether Local Plans are making a measurable difference. In 2014, Inside Housing found areas without plans were building at a faster rate, and a quick glance reveals that of the 10 councils exhibiting the largest net additional dwellings in their areas, only three had adopted Local Plans. At the bottom end of the table, six of the 10 with the lowest housing growth had plans.

What is clear is that to achieve the growth needed, there must be a blend of market conditions and a welcoming and enabling approach by the local authority. It will also require strong political leadership nationally and locally to listen to and address the concerns of local people in a constructive way. Local Plans are a step in the right direction, but need improvement.

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