Senior built environment industry figures have reacted angrily to Michael Gove’s update of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) unveiled yesterday in Parliament, claiming it could lead to a reduction in the number of new homes built and further compound the nation’s housing crisis.
The secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities said the reformed planning system would enable more homes to be delivered “more quickly, more beautifully and more sustainably”.
Gove claimed the new NPPF would: facilitate flexibility for local authorities in relation to local housing need; clarify a local lock on any changes to green belt boundaries; safeguard local plans from densities that would be wholly out of character; free local authorities with up-to-date local plans from annual updates to their five-year housing land supply; limit the practice of housing need being exported to neighbouring authorities without mutual agreement; bolster protections from speculative development for neighbourhoods that develop their own plans; support self-build, custom-build and community-led housing; and cement the role of beauty and placemaking in the planning system.
Under the revised plans, the government’s standard housing target method, which has always been the starting point for setting a local authority’s housing requirement, would be “advisory” rather than mandatory.
Gove also warned that he would identify poor performing local authorities and take “further steps to enforce effective delivery of new housing where locals authorities have failed most egregiously”. He pledged to give local authorities additional financial resources to “support and reward planners in local government and dedicate the very best in central government to work with them to deliver”.
Mark Buddle, head of residential development at Bidwells, said Gove’s “non-announcement” to an already unfit for purpose planning system demonstrated a “shocking indifference” towards the UK’s housing crisis.
“With one in 18 people in this country without a home, the government needs to be doing everything it can to expedite housing delivery,” said Buddle. “This is both economically and socially imperative. Without the right type of housing, we will be unable to attract workers in areas of high productivity, which ultimately acts as a significant drag on the economy and will only further entrench the stagflation we’re currently experiencing.
“We need a holistic approach to tackling this, with a government recognising that jobs growth needs to be supported by housing, and housing supported by jobs. Gove’s diluting of housing targets is indicative of the government’s aversion to concrete action in relation to getting housing development, and growth more widely, moving.
“This is a massive lost opportunity to provide a fix to the housing crisis. Unfortunately, effective solutions seem well out of reach as long as our eternally flip-flopping housing secretary, and the government that supports him, remain beholden to the all too fickle nature of political power and noisy, parochial interest groups.”
Marc Vlessing, chief executive Officer at Pocket Living, added: “The secretary of state’s decision to disregard the construction industry’s plea for a small sites planning policy will be the final blow for small builders across the country. All Michael Gove has done is rehash existing policy for small sites, which is delivering next to no development by builders who used to be the backbone of the economy.
“For over two years, Pocket Living has led a campaign supported by over 70 organisations, including Barratt Homes, the National Housing Federation and the UK’s biggest social landlords calling for action through a dedicated small sites policy which would have prevented dozens of small building companies from going to the wall.
“Yet, despite this, the secretary of state has failed to identify a single additional solution that will support the sector. The situation has now reached a critical point, with the number of small builders in London alone declining by 66% since 2007. We therefore urgently call on the secretary of state to take action before it is too late. This announcement is a scandalous abandonment of small businesses who used to form the core of the Conservative vote.”
Alistair Watson, UK head of planning and environment at law firm Taylor Wessing, said: “Christmas has not come early for local authorities, investors, developers, those wanting to buy a home, local residents and many others. Government is less like Father Christmas and more like the Planning Grinch. This is not the set of policy changes that the private sector and public sector lobbied for. It gives us something else to read over the seasonal break, and then think – what’s the point? If there is a change in the colour of government in the next 13 months, these long-awaited changes to the NPPF may get binned and never really be tested.
“Embracing a better future – that is what the real estate sector has been ready to do for many years. We also need government to give us what we say is needed – access to the right skilled labour, well-resourced councils, and commitment to development in a way that shows the sector it is worth investing time and money to get a quick and positive decision. The government has missed the major opportunity to make a significant difference. The real estate sector, including serious and experienced planners and local authorities, consider that the government has got this wrong. Why does it think that it is right?”
Victoria Du Croz, partner and head of the planning team at law firm Forsters, said: “It’s telling that Gove says he’s listened to elected representatives in his speech. This really is all about politics. He’s also been listening to local authorities but that’s only half the sector. Developers’ responses to the NPPF consultation came from a place of being involved in the sector day in and day out and wanting to shape genuine reform. He can’t just ignore developers. He hasn’t addressed the fundamental concern that his reforms won’t deliver additional housing.”
Lawrence Turner, director of Boyer, added: “The changes introduced by the new NPPF have significant implications for LPAs in terms of delivering sustainable development, meeting local housing needs, and addressing the housing crisis. The rebranding of the standard method for meeting housing needs as ‘advisory’ and the changes in the approach to strategic coordination and green belt boundaries make it more difficult for LPAs to plan for sustainable development and meet local housing needs. “Additionally, the changes in the five-year housing requirements present a significant challenge for LPAs, especially considering the resource constraints that many of them face. These changes are likely to have a profound impact on housing delivery and may further exacerbate the housing crisis.”
