Autumn Planning Update - What Does It All Mean, is CIL Armageddon for Planning?

Well what an interesting week for Planning in the press!!

No its wasn’t all about Planning Solutions Partnership, unless of course you watched the BBC News who highlighted that the revised application for the £150m Winter Gardens was now lodged at Bournemouth Borough Council; or had the bad fortune to see a picture of me taken at AFC Bournemouth as a main sponsor of the upcoming Bournemouth Council & Poole Council Landlord Conference 2012. NB, admission is free to the conference and the Council have asked me to provide a seminar on the day on the subject of planning, well who better I hear you say than someone who fully understands local government and private practice planning. In the old days I think it was called gamekeeper called poacher but I am better with clays than erratic pheasants and I have never poached or stolen anything in my life!

The interesting news for the planning industry in the press was the somewhat garbled or confusing announcement from Number 10 and other government departments saying that we could all build whatever we wanted without the need for affordable housing or any other contributions. Oh wasn’t that the message, I am told by many clients that this was the case according to which newspaper they had read.

Finally we have listed our thoughts on the Community Infrastructure Levy or CIL for short. Is it actually Armageddon?

For the latest suggestions on planning reform I have attached a link below from Eric Pickles MP, or if you don’t fancy reading it all the summary is as follows:

Affordable Housing

The Government has announced that they have serious concerns that affordable housing contributions by way of section 106 agreement are derailing the development industry and preventing developments being funded and therefore being built. The Government will look into introducing new legislation in early 2013, the government statement on this particular issue is listed below in italics.

The Government will now introduce legislation, to be effective in early 2013, which will allow any developer of sites which are unviable because of the number of affordable homes, to appeal with immediate effect. The Planning Inspectorate will be instructed to assess how many affordable homes would need to be removed from the Section 106 agreement for the site to be viable in current economic conditions. The Planning Inspectorate would then, as necessary, set aside the existing Section 106 agreement for a three year period, in favour of a new agreement with fewer affordable homes. We would encourage councils to take the opportunity before legislation comes into effect to seek negotiated solutions where possible.

Alongside this, the Government is also consulting on legislation that would allow developers to renegotiate non-viable Section 106 agreements entered into prior to April 2010.

Householder Permitted Development Rights

The Government and the press suggested last week that single storey extensions of up to eight metres will be allowed under revised householder permitted development rights. The actual wording is listed below in italics which actually states that they will consult on the suggestion and it may well be time limited for three years.

I am announcing today a further package of simplification measures to remove red tape and ease the burden on local authorities. We will consult shortly on changes to increase existing permitted development rights for extensions to homes and business premises in non protected areas for a three-year period. This will mean less municipal red tape to build a conservatory and similar small-scale home improvement and free up valuable resources in local authorities.

Getting Empty Offices Back Into Use

The Government has stated that planning delays are of concern and the wording below in italic states that they will look at transparent reporting, swifter determination of appeals and an extension to seek additional time for developers to implement planning permissions.


We will introduce permitted development rights to enable change of use from commercial to residential purposes, while providing the opportunity for authorities to seek a local exemption where they believe there will be an adverse economic impact. This common sense measure will help the regeneration of our towns and cities. Our high streets will benefit from a greater resident population, increasing footfall and supporting local shops.

Reducing Planning Delays

The Government has stated that planning delays are of concern and the wording below in italic states that they will look at transparent reporting, swifter determination of appeals and an extension to seek additional time for developers to implement planning permissions.

Given the importance of efficient and effective planning decisions for the economy, we need to ensure that where there are clear failures in performance, that applicants are able to access a better service. We propose to legislate to allow applications to be decided by the Planning Inspectorate, if the local authority has a track record of consistently poor performance in the speed or quality of its decisions. Planning is a quasi-judicial process: justice delayed is justice denied. It is unfair to all parties for local planning authorities simply to fail to make timely decisions on a planning application - creating uncertainty both for applicants and local residents.

Swift determination of appeals by the Planning Inspectorate is also of critical importance. We will consult shortly on options to speed up planning appeals - and for a new fast-track procedure for some small commercial appeals. I have also instructed the Planning Inspectorate with immediate effect to divert resources to prioritise all major economic and housing related appeals, to ensure applicants receive a response in the quickest possible time.

I have also extended a measure that allows developers the chance to seek additional time to get their sites up and running before planning permission expires, for an additional year. This measure will cut the costs of getting developments back on track.

Affordable Housing and Empty Properties

Nothing too much to comment over and above what the Government statement states below in italics.

The need for affordable housing remains high. We will therefore be extending the use of guarantees to cover borrowing needed to deliver more affordable homes. Building on the success of the Affordable Homes Programme, the Government will invite bids to provide up to an additional 15,000 affordable homes through the use of loan guarantees, asset management flexibilities and capital funding. We also intend to extend our successful refurbishment programme to bring an additional 5,000 existing empty homes back into use. In total we will invest another £300 million.

For a the full statement click here.
For details of the Landlord Conference click here.

Community Infrastructure Levy - CIL

Another cause for concern locally is the introduction of the Community Infrastructure Levy or as it has become know the ‘CIL’. A few clients have said that local firms of planners are warning of Armageddon when this is introduced and to ensure applications are lodged immediately. Whilst we would all prefer instructions immediately I am not sure that this is the case and Armageddon will happen.

It is true that in some areas such as Sandbanks and surprisingly some parts of Purbeck then the CIL route may well cost more than the section 106 agreements we are all now used to. However when you compare the CIL contribution on a fairly small increase in square footage over and above what is worked out to the existing section 106 contributions then CIL can actually be cheaper. For instance if you demolish a fairly large house and erect flats or houses that in square footage terms are not significantly bigger than what you have demolished  then the CIL payment may well be less than the traditional section 106 contributions. The other extreme is that you find a virgin piece of land in say Sandbanks and build a 10,000 sq ft house then the CIL contribution will be substantially more, is that Armageddon? I don’t think so because realistically where is the virgin undeveloped plot that could accommodate a 10,000 sq ft house in sandbanks? PS if you know of such a plot our land team would love to know as they have buyers waiting!

Planning Application Fee Increase

We were informed a while ago that planning application fees were due to rise by 15% this autumn. We have not heard anymore on the issue since but be prepared, the only way to avoid the increase will be to lodge an application prior to the rise.

So in summary, Planning Solutions Partnership are back from the summer break, chomping to get on with work and with the land team finding and selling sites at levels of the boom years now is a good time to call us. Have a good run up to Christmas and we may well be seeing some of you soon at our client drinks party next month or at the Landlord Conference. For a more personal discussion come and sample our new coffee machine in the Poole Hill office, it tastes great!