What’s on the planning agenda in 2018?

The extent of the housing crisis is now recognised by all political parties, which may be both a blessing and a curse. In her party conference speech in September 2017, the prime minister (who currently has a few other issues on her plate) announced that increasing housebuilding would be her “personal mission”. But is this not an area where we need action rather than further reviews? The increasingly separate planning systems of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will continue to undergo further destabilising changes over the year ahead at a time when we need, above all, resources and a positive approach to decision-making in order to bring about and fund much-needed housing and infrastructure. England In England, 2018 will bring us: ■ A green paper on social housing, announced by secretary of state for communities and local government, Sajid Javid, in September 2017. He described it as a “wide-ranging, top-to-bottom review of the issues facing the sector, […] the most substantial report of its kind for a generation”. However, cart before horse, this will come after a revised definition of affordable housing is introduced into the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPA). ■ Recommendations from a review panel, chaired by Sir Oliver Letwin, “to explain the significant gap between housing completions and the amount of land allocated or permissioned, and make recommendations for closing it”. An interim report is expected for the government’s spring statement and a full report by the Autumn Budget. However, again cart before horse, a succession of measures have already been announced in the government’s February 2017 Housing White Paper to discourage landbanking, including shorter standard implementation deadlines on planning permissions, a simplified procedure for completion notices, the proposal that applicants should provide information on anticipated build-out rates and the proposal that in some circumstances the track record of the applicant should be a material planning consideration. ■ The Labour Party’s review of the planning system – People and planning – announced by shadow secretary of state for communities and local government, Roberta Blackman-Woods, at its 2017 party conference. ■ Nick Raynsford’s review for the Town and Country Planning Association “to identify how the government can reform the English planning system to make it fairer, better resourced and capable of producing quality outcomes, while still encouraging the production of new homes”. A report is to be formally presented at all major party conferences this autumn. ■ After prolonged delays, a revised version of the NPPF for consultation in the spring with a final version in the summer. ■  After even longer delays, a consultation process in the spring on detailed proposals to reform the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), taking a different course to that proposed in 2016 by an independent review panel. Aside from the objective of delivering more housing, another main theme to all this thinking is the extent to which, rather than using general taxation measures, further monies can be extracted from landowners and developers to pay for affordable housing as well as other social and physical infrastructure (for instance, schools and roads) having regard to the uplift in land value that planning permission can bring, whether that be by way of section 106 agreements and the CIL or by public bodies (including new-style development corporations) making early acquisitions of development land. The Conservative Party’s 2017 manifesto floated more radical ideas about amending CPO compensation principles but these may have to wait, given the government’s precarious majority and the all-consuming nature of Brexit. As policy requirements continue to ratchet up, against the background of an uncertain economic outlook and continued construction cost inflation, developers fall back to viability arguments to reduce planning obligations (usually affordable housing). In 2018 we will see continued pressure to constrain and standardise the viability assessment process, as signalled in the government’s September 2017 Planning for the Right Homes in the Right Places consultation. In London, the particularly rigid requirements of the draft London Plan will be subject to independent examination. For those of us in England, 2018 may prove to be a rare year without any amending primary legislation being introduced. As a result of successive changes to the system, as well as increasing geographical variations in the legal position due to the effects of devolution on combined authorities led by mayors (each with a different permutation of legal arrangements), English planning law is a mess. The process can be mystifying at times for even the most experienced of developers, let alone for lay people. Is it more important to spend time simplifying and consolidating legislation or to allow users of the system a period of stability against which long-term investment decisions can be made? The administrations in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have been taking differing approaches and have varying challenges in the year ahead. Wales The Law Commission is consulting until 1 March on proposals to simplify and consolidate planning law at the request of the Welsh government, which is drafting a planning code to consolidate existing planning legislation. Many of the Law Commission’s proposals are to change aspects of the law that are common to England as well, for example changes to the definition of “development” and “material considerations”, to the process for applying for outline planning permission and for applying for variations of a planning permission that has already been granted. However sensible the reforms are, is it not a lost opportunity to limit this process to Wales? Scotland The Planning (Scotland) Bill was introduced into Scottish Parliament on 4 December, following an independent review of the system. As well as progress in 2018 on the Bill, which proposes wide-ranging changes to the planning process, we can also expect an amended version of Scotland’s National Planning Framework. Northern Ireland In Northern Ireland, a new two-tier planning system only came into force in 2015, introducing a sharing of planning responsibilities between councils and the Department of Environment. Councils have now started to prepare their local development plans. 2018 is another year of delivery – delivery , that is, of paper. What about the bricks? Simon Ricketts is a partner at Town Legal LLP