The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has confirmed changes to the National Planning Policy Framework, including policies on freeing up the green belt and placing the onus on local authorities to deliver local plans or have the Government dictate their housing needs.
Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook announced that local authorities will be given 12 weeks to put Local Plans in place which will confirm housebuilding targets, otherwise they will face sanctions including the Government stepping in to create plans on their behalf to assist delivery of housing numbers.
The Government’s Planning & Infrastructure Bill will be introduced “in the New Year,” said Pennycook, launching the publication of the new National Planning Policy Framework, including the ‘golden rules’ which will allow grey belt schemes to go ahead once their criteria have been confirmed in 2025 following an industry consultation. The revised NPPF generally defines grey belt as “land in the Green Belt comprising previously developed land and/or any other land that, in either case, does not strongly contribute to any of the purposes” .
New wording has been introduced in the NPPF covering the ‘golden rules’ on affordable housing quotas in Local Plans: “A specific affordable housing requirement should be set for major development…either on land which is proposed to be released from the Green Belt or which may be permitted on land within the Green Belt.” This requirement “should be set at a higher level than that which would otherwise apply to land which is not within or proposed to be released from the Green Belt; and should also require that at least 50% of the housing to be affordable, unless this would make the development of these sites unviable (when tested in accordance with national planning practice guidance on viability).”
As well as “a number of changes to the Framework” in terms of supporting nature and tackling flood risk, the NPPF also puts the onus on local authorities to deliver the 1.5 million homes over the next five years. The ‘golden rules’ for developments on the Green Belt include a requirement that developments deliver 50% affordable homes, while increasing access to green spaces and putting the necessary infrastructure in place.
Pennycook explained the Government’s approach to enforcement of Local Plans where local authorities fail to introduce them: “The previous Government had a series of targets and kept letting them slip, we are not going to let that happen. There are a series of escalating steps we can take to bear down on performance.” He added: “In extremis, the Government can take a Local Plan off a local authority that is resisting putting one in place, and we are absolutely willing to do it if we have evidence that local authorities are refusing to comply, and refusing to allow their residents to shape developments in a way that best suits their needs.”
Pennycook told Radio 4: “When any land comes forward in the green belt to meet local housing need, it will be subject to ‘golden rules’ which ensure that we secure additional public benefit on these sites, more affordable housing, better infrastructure and amenities, and giving local people access to green space and nature.”
Pennycook made a more qualified defence of meeting biodiversity aims than his boss Housing Secretary Angela Rayner ‘anti-newt’ comments last week, adding: “We think there is a smart, win-win way to unlock development and nature restoration; we shouldn’t be pitting nature against development as if it’s a barrier to growth.”
Pennycook said the previous Government “released green belt land in a haphazard way, often for speculative development and often in a way that didn’t meet local need.”
Regarding specific protections of nature within grey belt development, and ‘wild belt’ provision suggested by pro-nature groups, Pennycook said “We have no plans to announce that,” but the Department was “engaging with NGOs and nature groups about all of this, not least how we unblock constraints like nutrient neutrality.”
The announcement in Parliament will be regarding “getting the National Planning Policy Framework in place early on, so we are being very clear about our expectations of mandatory higher standards, what land you should release, and the part local councils can play.”