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Councils call for suspension of housebuilding targets
Councils are calling for the government to suspend key local housebuilding targets because of the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
The District Councils Network (DCN), which represents 187 local authorities across England with housing and planning functions, wants ministers to pause the housing delivery test (HDT) and five-year land supply requirements for town halls.
It argues that councils are at risk of being unfairly penalised for missing the targets because of the construction slowdown caused by COVID-19.
A survey by the body found that 62% of councils fear they will not meet their HDT obligations – calculated by expressing the net number of homes built in the area as a percentage of the number deemed to be required over the same period.
Scores below 75% when the 2020 HDT is published will result in a council’s planning policy becoming subject to the “presumption in favour of sustainable development”.
Effectively, this means they will be forced to give greater weight to the government’s National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) relative to their local policies when deciding whether to accept planning applications.
Sites not allocated as part of local plans may therefore be more likely to receive planning permission, as long as proposals meet the NPPF criteria.
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The survey also found that 57% of councils were “very concerned” about the pandemic’s impact on their ability to sustain a supply of land for housing over the next five years, the DCN said.
Failure to identify a five-year land supply also results in councils becoming subject to the presumption in favour of sustainable development.
Mark Crane, lead member for stronger economies at the DCN and leader of Selby District Council, said: “Councils have serious concerns that they will be unfairly penalised as a result of housebuilding slowing down because of the coronavirus crisis.
“The loss of new homes built will have a significant impact on the five-year land supply, which without protection would allow developers to bypass local community wishes.
“We need the government to focus on achieving delivery of housebuilding on allocated sites and avoid the corrosive effects of speculative development where communities don’t have a say.”
Housebuilding came to a virtual standstill as the coronavirus pandemic hit in late March – though most sites have now reopened, albeit at reduced capacity.
The DCN’s demands come as the government is expected to publish a paper setting out a major reform of England’s planning system this week.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “We’re aware of concerns over demonstrating a five-year land supply and Housing Delivery Test under the current circumstances.
“However, it is important to keep the planning system moving so it can play its full part in the economic recovery to come.
“That’s why we are supporting local authorities through measures in the Business and Planning Act, such as allowing more flexible working hours of construction sites and extending the duration of certain planning permissions to ensure that they don’t lapse unnecessarily as a result of disruption caused by the pandemic.”
Update: at 9.15am 28/07/20 a statement from MHCLG was added to the story.
