The proposed changes introduce transitional arrangements for emerging Local Plans, which will vary depending on the stage they have reached and the extent to which their housing requirement falls short of newly published Local Housing Need (LHN) figures, using the Government’s new Standard Method for calculation.
Where the new draft NPPF requirements wouldn’t apply:
- Local Plans that have reached Regulation 19 stage (pre-submission/publication draft) on or before one month after the publication of the revised NPPF, provided that their identified annual housing requirement is no more than 200 dwellings below the relevant LHN figure
- Local Plans that have reached Regulation 19 stage on or before one month after the publication of the revised NPPF, but with an identified annual housing requirements that is more than 200 dwellings lower than the relevant LHN must proceed to examination within 18 months of the NPPF publication date.
- Part 2 Plans that do not introduce new strategic policies setting the housing requirement, unless the Part 1 Plan has been prepared under the revised NPPF.
- Where the Local Plan is or has been submitted for examination before the date one month after the publication of the revised NPPF.
- Emerging Local Plans which do meet the 200 dwelling per annum threshold of the new Local Housing Need figures can proceed to examination.
Where the new draft NPPF requirements would apply:
- Any Local Plan that has not reached Regulation 19 stage on or before a month after the publication of the revised NPPF.
Early review would be required:
- If a Local Plan is adopted without the new NPPF requirements applying and the annual housing requirement is more than 200 dwellings below the published LHN figure, it will need to undergo an early review to address the shortfall. The Government will need to keep LPAs accountable for this early review to ensure that reviews don’t take several years to complete, or don’t happen at all.
The Effect of These Changes
Many LPAs are anticipated to see significant uplift in the level of housing required as a result of updated Local Housing Need figures. This makes it likely that emerging Local Plans will need to be restarted or immediately reviewed.
Going forward, they will need to allocate additional sites for housing, review Green Belt boundaries (where applicable) to release land and, more widely, focus on regional planning approaches to achieve the major housing and infrastructure requirements that are mooted across the draft NPPF.
This presents additional opportunities for landowners and developers to progress the promotion of sites through the Local Plan process and also to prepare speculative planning applications to obtain planning permission in the absence of up to date policies.
