We are in the middle of party conference season and it is always interesting to look out for announcements which may have a bearing on the work that the planning and development team get involved in. You may have heard about recent news to water down environment restrictions, the most recent being a delay to the introduction of Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG), which was due to become mandatory for larger sites in November of this year. Don’t be fooled however, this is only a delay, and BNG is still expected to come into force next year, once guidance is published and assuming that Local Authorities are geared up to deal with it. This will put ecological considerations at the forefront of any development plans, and will impact upon all but the smallest schemes. It will require prior assessment of the biodiversity of any given site and a demonstration that post development there will be a 10% net gain in biodiversity. This gain should ideally be provided on site or alternatively adjoining the site. Failing that, it may be possible to deliver the Net Gain further afield and this may involve buying credits from schemes being set up to deliver this new planning mitigation. In some circumstances the requirement to deliver Net Gain may make schemes unviable. It will certainly add greatly to the cost of pursuing planning, with even greater emphasis on the need for ecological surveys as part of any planning submission. Bear in mind that many of these surveys will be seasonally sensitive, and careful advance preparation to deal with timing will therefore be essential.

These added restrictions are in stark contrast to the other public declarations made by the political parties that they want to deliver more housing development. Although this cry for more housing appears somewhat more muted at what is perhaps the last conference season before a general election. In my March Ponderings I commented upon a sensitivity within government about being seen to be pressing for housing growth which might harm votes in the run up to a general election. This was also apparent at the recent Liberal Democrats conference, where a somewhat less ambitious housing policy was adopted, below the 350,000 houses a year that was advocated previously.

There is no doubt that an underlying demand for new housing remains, but in the midst of a cost of living crisis, and following a surge in mortgage rates, there has clearly been an impact upon houses sales and this is beginning to translate into price reductions. Residential Development sites are difficult to place at the current time, with the increased uncertainty impacting upon developer interest and resulting in lower land values. We remain hopeful that this will only be a short term correction, but only time will tell.

In the meantime we continue to strive to obtain planning consents for clients across a wide spectrum of different projects. Successes since our last Ponderings include: 3 Farm Workers Cottages in Huntingdonshire, a 4 house redevelopment in South Cambridgeshire, a 2 house farmyard redevelopment in Bedford Borough, an Equestrian/Agricultural building in Market Harborough, an Agricultural grain store in Huntingdonshire and a Class MA Change of Use in South Northamptonshire. Planning determinations continue to be slow but persistence remains the key and a carefully considered proposal which addresses all potential concerns can still bear fruit.

Andrew Middleditch – Salaried Partner

Contact Our Planning and Development Team Alistair Brodie, Peter Moore & Andrew Middleditch