Further Housing Bill defeats for government

The House of Lords last night voted by 251 votes to 194 for the amendment to the Housing and planning Bill, tabled by Liberal Democrat peers Baroness Kate Parminter and Lord Matthew Taylor, along with Labour peer Roy Kennedy.

Peers also last night voted by 213 votes to 171 for another opposition amendment to ensure the government’s ‘permission in principle’ planning policy only applies to ‘housing-led’ sites. These defeats brings the total number of government defeats on the Housing and Planning Bill to eight.

Under reforms introduced by the previous coalition government, parish councils and neighborhood fourms can set out priorities for development through a Neighbourhood Plan. However, opposition peers last night argued that there is not a sufficient right of appeal for a neighbourhood planning body in cases where a local authority has granted permission for a scheme that conflicts with the neighbourhood plan.

Baroness Parminter said: “Why, bluntly, should local people go to the effort of producing a neighbourhood plan if such plans can be ignored when councils make decisions on planning applications and the opportunity to challenge is through costly judicial reviews?”

Baroness Parminter said although the secretary of state can call-in planning appeals, this only applies to major applications and when permission has been refused by a council and taken to appeal. She says the secretary of state’s powers give no protection where a permissions is granted contrary to a neighbourhood plan.

However, Baroness Susan Williams, a government whip, argued that the views of the community are “considered at every stage in the decision-making process” and that a community right of appeal is not necessary.

She said: “It cannot be right for development that secures planning permission to be delayed and uncertainty created at the last minute by a community right of appeal.”  However, peers disagreed and inflicted a defeat on the government.

In another vote, peers passed an amendment to ensure ‘permission in principle’ is ‘housing-led’. Under the government’s plans councils can identify suitable sites for development in brownfield land registers. These sites are given permission in principle – meaning the core principles of the development, such as land use and amount of development are pre-approved.

The government has previously said the policy should apply to ‘housing-led’ developments, but this is not stated on the face of the bill.

Baroness Williams said the government intends the development to be housing-led but will specify this in secondary legislation, as opposed to the bill itself. She said: “Putting something in the Bill does not allow the same flexibility as something being in secondary legislation. Moreover, we are currently consulting on the definition of “housing led”.

The bill returns to the House of Lords for the final report stage sitting on Monday.