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approval of reserved matters, or ‘full’
with all details taken into account.
Both routes require applicants to
provide substantial amounts of
information up-front.
The current process means that
developers and landowners often
have to spend significant time
and resource even to establish
outline ‘in principle’ acceptability of
development. Major proposals that
do not require an EIA are supposed
to take up to 13 weeks to determine
such a principle. However, as most
of us know, the reality is that it often
takes far longer.
By introducing PiP for housing-
led development, the Government is
seeking to increase the efficiency of
the planning process by establishing
more certainty as to whether land is
suitable for new homes.
The intention of doing so is to
separate decision making on ‘in
principle’ issues including use,
location and density/amount from
matters of technical detail such as
materials and what the buildings
will look like.
A grant of PiP would have to be
followed by a successful application
for Technical Details Consent (TDC)
before the applicant could benefit
from planning permission to develop
the site.
Where will PiP be allowed?
Powers secured through the Housing
and Planning Act 2016 allow PiP to
be granted when:
– Local authorities or other
qualifying bodies choose to
allocate housing-led development
in local or neighbourhood plans.
– Local authorities identify land on
their brownfield land registers
(which they are required to set up
under section 14A of the Planning
and Compulsory Purchase Act
2004 once the Town and Country
Planning (Register of Previously
Developed Land) Regulations 2017
come into force).
There may also be the opportunity to
seek PiP directly for smaller schemes
of say 10 units or below that do not
feature in local/neighbourhood plans
or the register. However, this has yet
to be confirmed.
Speeding the principle
It is hoped that PiP will enable the
principle for ‘housing-led’ schemes
to be established within a five week
process, though the subsequent
TDC, which is ultimately what
will be required in order to start
construction, is likely to take longer.
The thinking is that this will allow
some certainty on the acceptability
of the overall use of the site for
housing, appropriate location of
development within the site and
density (possibly within maximum
and minimum parameters).
The exact method by which this will
be achieved is still being determined.
It could be through the wider use of
‘parameter plans’ as a quick way of
identifying those areas within the site
where development is acceptable
and where densification is possible.
Clearly, there will also be a need
to determine the extent to which
such ‘housing led’ schemes can
accommodate other uses. In this
respect it is likely the guidance
will have to provide a judgement,
for example, on the proportion of
housing on site versus other uses,
so that it remains within the spirit
of PiP and compliant with other
elements of Government policy.
PiP’s will also have conditions
attached and potentially be subject
to CIL/S106. As with an outline or full
planning application route, there will be
a right of appeal against any refusal.
Awaiting the details
Much of whether PiP will add to, or
detract from, the existing outline or
full planning permission approach
ultimately rests in the detail due to
be published in spring 2017.
We know that the PiP process is
likely to exempt EIA based schemes,
which could unfortunately cut out
many major housing proposals from
qualifying. A robust approach will
also need to be taken to flooding,
heritage, nature conservation and
traffic at the plan-making stage to
avoid doing it at the PiP stage.
A possible unintended
consequence could be that
developers and landowners have
to ‘front load’ their ambitions by
making sure sites are included in local
plans/brownfield registers. Failing
to do this could invite the risks of
negotiating with parishes as part of
the neighbourhood planning process,
which would defeat the object.
Whether this third way will be the
silver bullet the Government requires
to unlock planning and deliver more
housing growth remains to be seen.
With so many details yet to be
finalised it is very much a case of
watch this space!
By
introducing
PiP for
housing-led
development,
the
Government
is seeking to
increase the
efficiency of
the planning
process by
establishing
more
certainty as to
whether land
is suitable for
new homes
CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD23
#TRENDING