GVA, the UK’s largest independent commercial property advisor, has published a paper looking at the impact of the National Planning Policy Framework one year on.
The document, which brings together views from across the property and planning industry, concludes that the NPPF has had a major impact on certain planning outcomes.
GVA’s analysis of key indicators – including residential and retail planning appeal outcomes, the call-in decisions made by the Secretary of State, and a review of the status of local authority plan-making and neighbourhood plans – highlights a number of findings:
The trend in residential appeal decisions post NPPF is strongly in favour of new housing development. Protection for Green Belt and other nationally recognised designations remains generally robust, but development in such locations may still be allowed where there is a significant housing shortage and no obvious alternative means to resolve it.
Overall, there are indications of a shift towards an increase in the number of residential permissions, although this is not uniform across the country. This trend is likely to continue until local plans and 5 year supplies are in place.
With regard to retail development, it appears that local authorities are being given more autonomy to make their own decisions. Town centres continue to be protected where developers do not demonstrate flexibility or show that there would be no negative impact on town centre development sites.
The burdens placed on councils by the Framework have seen a number of plans fail or stall at EiP stage. The anticipated increase in the number of plans adopted since its publication has not therefore materialised to date.
Far less progress than originally envisaged has been made in neighbourhood planning. However, there are signs that some communities are beginning to move forwards.
Chris Goddard, Head of Planning, Development and Regeneration, GVA: “One of the original aims of the NPPF was to promote sustainable development and growth. One year on and it does appear to be creating a pro-development platform upon which to move forward, but with economic fundamentals still weak, it is fair to say that planning reform alone cannot drive economic recovery. Many other factors need to be taken into account when assessing how development will be delivered on the ground, including access to finance and infrastructure funding.”
Keith George, National Head of Planning, Taylor Wimpey: “The NPPF has provided welcome clarity and an impetus on housing delivery, and we have seen the impact this has had on increasingly positive appeal decisions. But local plans consistent with the Framework are still not coming forward as quickly as needed. Too many plans are being delayed, not least through lack of robust evidence or failure to adopt the duty to cooperate. This needs to be the focus over the next twelve months if the need for appeal is going to be reduced and the NPPF is to be properly implemented at the local level.”
Edward Cooke, Director of Policy and Public Affairs, BCSC: “The final text of the NPPF was broadly welcomed, and indeed crucially reinforced the importance of a town centres first approach to retail planning. However the reality is that, with so many local planning authorities yet to produce compliant plans, Government’s public endorsement of this approach is not yet being applied locally. At a time of structural change in the retail sector it is more important than ever that councils plan positively for retail led investment in their towns and cities.”
Trudi Elliott CBE, Chief Executive of the RTPI: “One year on from the publication of the NPPF, only about half of all councils have an up-to-date plan in place. We would continue to emphasise to all in senior local authority leadership that having a local plan is the key way to deliver positive outcomes for your community.”
Liz Peace, Chief Executive, British Property Federation: “The planning system, weighed down by voluminous amounts of legislation and regulation, was badly in need of renewal. The NPPF has opened the way for a clearer, less bureaucratic approach to planning but, with many aspects of the new system such as neighbourhood planning only now beginning to emerge, it will be some time before a fully rounded view can be taken about its impact. Getting a more balanced approach to planning was one of the preconditions for more sustainable economic growth but planning was never going to be the silver bullet that could by itself kick-start development. Planning reform must now be complemented by other measures needed to unblock the numerous stalled development schemes which can be found up and down the country.”
