By Rob Ellis at SF Planning Ltd  

In a Punchline article earlier this year, I mentioned that the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) was long overdue an update, following its original publication back in March 2012, writes Rob Ellis of SF Planning Ltd.

Following a period of public consultation in spring 2018, the revised NPPF (or NPPF2 as it is dubbed in some quarters) was formally published and adopted by Government on 24th July 2018, just before the summer recess.

However, it should be noted that the Planning Practice Guidance (PPG), the underlying detail and guidance behind the NPPF, has not yet been updated in full. It is somewhat disappointing that the NPPF and PPG were not updated together to provide some clarity, however, we understand that the revisions will make their way through to the PPG in the coming months.

Whilst the NPPF2 does not result in a fundamental amendment to many policies within, there are some alterations that could have an impact on planning decisions going forward. One such alteration relates to the thresholds for the provision of affordable housing on development sites.

Prior to the publication of the NPPF2, the generally accepted national policy for affordable housing thresholds was set out in a Written Ministerial Statement (WMS) dated 28th November 2014. This said that affordable housing should not be sought from developments of 10-units or fewer, and which have a maximum combined gross floorspace of no more than 1,000 sqm (gross internal area). Although, this could be a lower threshold of 5-units or fewer in "designated rural areas".

The NPPF2 alters this threshold to state that, "affordable housing should not be sought for residential developments that are not major developments, other than in designated rural areas (where policies may set a lower threshold of 5-units or fewer)." The definition of "major developments" in housing terms means sites of 10-units or more, or sites with an area of 0.5 hectares or more. Therefore, whilst the floorspace limit has been removed, a new site area threshold has been introduced and the maximum unit threshold has been reduced from 10 to 9-units.

However, it is not yet clear how a number of councils will be considering the revised national threshold affordable housing set out in the NPPF2, particularly in the scenario where their Local Plans have only recently been adopted and given that the PPG has not itself been updated on this matter, to provide further guidance.

As with all new planning policy, particularly those at a national level, there will likely be a period of uncertainty, followed by litigation, before the policies can be implemented and assessed with clarity

For more information on any aspect of the planning process, contact Rob Ellis at SF Planning Ltd by visiting www.sfplanning.co.uk, calling 01452 527997 or emailing rob@sfplanning.co.uk.

Twitter - @SFPlanningLtd  or @robellis82.