“Planning for the Future” White Paper 2020
No doubt you’re familiar with the 5 or 6 or 7 P’s: Proper Planning and Preparation Prevents Pathetically Poor Performance …
Last week the UK’s Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) published its White Paper “Planning for the Future”, commencing a consultation period which ends in late October
Amongst other things, the paper proposes to repeal the 1947 Town and Country Planning Act because the current development control system is no longer fit for purpose. In the paper’s words: “tear it down and start again” and create a “whole new planning system for England”
A new system will be developed with the guiding principle: “cherish the past, adorn the present and build for the future” which will reform plan making; development management, development contributions and other “related policy proposals”
Evidence
As evidence that the current arrangements don’t work, the paper notes that:
- 36% of planning decisions for ‘major’ applications and 30% of decisions for ‘minor’ applications are overturned at appeal
- Only 50 % of Local Authorities have an approved local plan (despite it being a statutory requirement) and
- On average it takes seven years to prepare and approve a local plan by which time it is out of date
Moreover:
- 49% of the public don’t trust developers and
- 36% of the public don’t trust Local Authorities
Not surprisingly, given the authorship, the White Paper emphasises the homes/residential market and is virtually silent about other land uses. If we are to have a shiny new joined up, accessible planning and development control system with which the public are fully engaged; surely we need to cover all forms of land use/development and extend consideration to wider matters of carbon foot print, energy utilisation, life-cycle environmental impact, all of which extends way beyond just “good design”?
Housing Targets
Yet another paper cites the government’s ambition to build 300,000 new homes annually and 1 million new homes in the lifetime of this Parliament, noting that approved local plans only provide for 187,000 home per year
The 300,000 target figure has been used repeatedly by recent administrations and, a Public Accounts Committee Report in June 2019 noted that the Government had no detailed plan for how to achieve this “highly ambitious target” compounded by no “detailed rationale” as to why the target was chosen. However, the report also noted that the current planning system was an obstacle
According to the Local Government Association (LGA), the last time the UK built more than 300,000 homes per year was in 1997-98 when 44% were built by councils. In 2017-18 only 8,992 homes were built be councils according to the Royal Town Planning Institute. The Public Accounts Committee observed that The MHCLG “simply does not have the mechanisms in place to achieve the 300,000 target”
A February 2020 report by the LGA identifies there are more than 1 million homes with planning consent that have yet to be built and that, in the period since 2009/10 planning consent has been granted for 2,564,000 homes with only 1,530,680 completed. Further, since 2012/13 planning consents for new homes have doubled with 90% of applications being approved
| 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | |
| Planning Consents (No. Units) | 313,700 | 380,500 | 361,800 |
| Building Completions | 183,570 | 195,290 | 213,860 |
The LGA conclude that the planning process is less of an obstacle and the challenge is to increase the number of consented homes actually built
Deliverability …
“Fixing” the planning system is perceived to be part of the pathway to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050
Undoubtedly, the planning system is “clunky” and certainly inaccessible to the average Jane or Joe. Making it simpler, easy to understand and quicker for proposals to go from concept to start on site would be desirable and have the added benefit of reducing cost and risk for investors
Wearing my programme/project manager hat, my concern is that little thought has been given to how this will be delivered and, I suspect, the various “threads” of the much wider picture have yet to be drawn together and woven into a coherent whole. As the White Paper says tinkering at the edges (of the planning process) will not do, but neither will tinkering at the edges of the “big picture”
Implementing the proposals that emerge from the consultation process will require both primary and secondary legislation. So, it would seem unlikely that a Bill will be placed before Parliament before mid 2021 and Royal Assent granted late next year. Thereafter, National Development Management Policies will need to be developed and approved (presumably by a Secretary of State under enabling / delegated powers arising from the new legislation) leading to Approved local plans which will thus come “on-stream” in mid to late 2023 (at best?) and the earliest consents under the new regime granted by, say, early 2024
Under the Fixed Term Parliaments Act, the next General Election is due in May 2024 and so this White Paper will, in truth, have no impact of the ambition to create 1 million new homes before Parliament is dissolved
Meanwhile, the capacity and skill-set of Local Authorities will need augmenting to meet the prospective new requirements (which include the appointment of a ‘Chief Officer for Design and Placemaking’) and to continue to process planning applications under the current regime on a business as usual basis
Additionally, the ‘Property Technology Sector’ will need the develop and deploy the necessary capabilities to enable the public accessibility to which the White Paper aspires, namely the need for modern digital planning services accessible from home:
The planning system must … follow other sectors in harnessing the benefits which digitisation can bring – real-time information, high-quality virtual simulation, straightforward end-to-end processes. It should be based on data, not documents, inclusive for all members of society, and stimulate the innovation of the great British design industry”
Conclusion
Clearly, the White Paper is only a starting point for the many conversations that now need to be had
As a nation how do we create a stock of well designed, well built, energy efficient homes that provide not only a desirable sense of ‘place’ but embrace appropriate space standards, urban and landscape design, community, leisure, transportation and mobility and work spaces whilst also facilitating the flexibilities that a ‘post Covid-19’ society are likely to need as the real estate requirements of business and households transition into what is likely to become a “new normal”?
This will not be easy, and it will involve the skill and expertise of wide sectors of the economy and the professionalism and knowledge of those working in a wide range of specialities
There are opportunities for all here. Societally, we need to step up and grasp them
Note: The proposals set out in the White Paper only apply to England. Planning matters for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are devolved
A downloadable copy of this paper, together with the references is available from Martin Stevens Academy
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