You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
NPPF changes: LGA hits back over planning criticism
The Conservative chair of the Local Government Association (LGA) has blasted the government for blaming the housing shortage on councils, following changes to planning policy announced yesterday.
Housing, planning and local government bodies have been reacting to the much-anticipated update to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which is out for consultation until 10 May.
New measures include changes to viability assessments which could make it harder for developers to dodge affordable housing commitments.
The revised document also brings forward many policies outlined in the Housing White Paper last February, including Housing Delivery Targets for councils and a review of the Community Infrastructure Levy and Section 106 mechanisms.
Unveiling them yesterday, the prime minister said the proposals would give “councils and developers the backing they need to get more homes built more quickly”.
READ MORE
David Orr, chief executive of the National Housing Federation, said via Twitter that the tweaks to viability assessments and Section 106 were “[t]echnical but hugely important changes we’ve been pressing for”.
He called on ministers to start prioritising building affordable homes on publicly owned land as the next key step.
Gary Porter, chair of the LGA, took aim at comments made by housing secretary Sajid Javid on Sunday criticising councils that had failed to oversee enough development.
“The truth is that councils are currently approving nine in 10 planning applications, which shows that the planning system is working well and is not a barrier to building,” Mr Porter said in a statement.
“It is completely wrong, therefore, to suggest the country’s failure to build the housing it desperately needs is down to councils. The threat of stripping councils of their rights to decide where homes are built is unhelpful and misguided.”
However, Mr Porter – who is also Conservative leader of South Holland District Council – later tweeted: “Some very welcome comments in the [Theresa May] speech today. It’s great that she recognised the valuable role councils play and that sometimes some developers are gaming the system with viability assessments and she has committed to end this abuse.”
Terrie Alafat, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Housing, said: “It’s great to see these reforms will include tackling abuse of the viability assessment process, but disappointing that they fail to emphasise the importance of building more homes for social rent. To truly fix our broken housing market, we need to make sure we are building the right homes, in the right places, at the right prices.
“The solution must include more genuinely affordable homes, including homes at social rent, built by social landlords. The planning system has a vital role in delivering them, but an opportunity to put this centre stage has been missed.”
Kate Henderson, chief executive of the Town and Country Planning Association, attacked the decision to remove reference to ‘Garden City Principles’ from the NPPF.
“Taken together, the new NPPF fails to secure a sustainable vision for the future,” she said.
“Without reference to the Garden City Principles, the government risks the creation of soulless housing estates, not the high-quality, inclusive and genuinely affordable new communities we desperately need.”
Jennifer Nye, senior planner at national consultancy Lichfields, said: “The introduction of the housing delivery test into policy is welcome and it is interesting that the newly introduced entry-level exception sites are proposed outside existing settlements.
“There are new measures which aim to ensure housing delivery, however it’s questionable whether these are the step change needed to help solve the housing crisis.”
Update: at 15.28pm, 06.03.18 A statement from the Chartered Institute of Housing was added to the story.
