Agenda item

The Planning Development Manager presented a report in respect of the findings of the Sub Group of the Planning Policy and Housing Delivery Board.  The Sub Group was set up to drive forward some quick wins in relation to increasing the speed of housing delivery across the Borough.  After several meetings and research, initiatives were agreed to focus on: reducing the amount of time permitted to build developments from three to two years by way of a standard condition; looking at re-using council properties for housing; removing/adjusting pre-commencement standard planning conditions; seeking viability assessments at the pre-application advice stage; modular housing training; establishing whether there were any issues likely to delay developments and understand better why some applications were not being implemented; encouraging early consultation by developers with residents and local Councillors for larger developments; asking the North Downs Housing Company to consider initiatives which could include modular housing; and analysing appeal decisions to identify recurring material themes that the Planning Inspectorate placed weight on in concluding that an appeal should be permitted.

The report invited the EAB to consider and comment on these initiatives to speed up housing delivery and to identify any further initiatives for consideration.  The proposed adoption of the new Local Plan in early 2019 and past struggles to deliver a sufficient number of houses in the Borough were the reasons.

The Planning Development Manager advised that he had recently attended a meeting of the Town and Country Planning Association which had considered the future of housing in England and identified the conversion of offices to dwellings as an issue.

Cllr Philip Brooker drew attention to a table in the report which provided a comparison between the number of housing completions per annum from 2015/16 pre-adoption of the Local Plan and the significantly higher anticipated housing supply trajectory for the five years following adoption.  He advised that he had undertaken a piece of work to survey Council-owned land available for development which had identified potential sites for approximately 300 affordable dwellings.  Other land would now be considered with the assistance of the Director of Community Services.

Arising from questions and discussion, the following points were made:

·                   The initiative to remove/adjust pre-commencement standard planning conditions largely consisted of re-wording so the conditions were no longer pre-commencement e.g. materials could be agreed following commencement.

·                   Groups of unused privately-owned garages could be considered for purchase and redevelopment in addition to Council-owned garage blocks and this would be looked into.

·                   The definition of affordable housing was changing and would be circulated to the EAB highlighting the distinctions between affordable and other types of housing.

·                   The Council was at risk of development driven by developers through planning applications and appeals as it currently lacked a five year housing supply.

·                   A more liberal interpretation of the National Planning Policy Framework concerning limited infilling was considered possible to increase housing delivery and also benefit smaller building companies which were not in position to develop larger sites.

·                   Although allocated development sites were preferable, the Local Plan was a guide and others could be added with brownfield sites being favoured over greenfield sites.

·                   A robust response to claims of lack of viability to construct affordable housing was sought.  Consultants selected to undertake viability tests were the Council’s choice.

·                   The construction industry’s capacity to build on the scale of the housing trajectories was doubted and it was suggested that apprenticeships could be the way forward.  Flooding the market may also be a concern for builders, although larger sites could be developed in phases in line with relevant planning conditions.

On behalf of the EAB, the Chairman thanked the Sub Group for its work and expressed support for the initiatives and the work being undertaken by Councillor Philip Brooker.  The involvement of North Downs Housing was welcomed.