Concerns grow as Government moves to loosen planning rules for new homes

The Government has taken new steps paving the way for housebuilding to tackle an ‘acute housing crisis’ – but these have prompted fresh concerns from countryside campaigners.

What can be built where is guided by Government rules called the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).

Since it was elected, the Government has been looking to make changes to this – it says, to create a smoother path for housebuilders, leading to more homes being built.

Changes have been controversial, particularly the new ‘greybelt’ classification. This describes ‘low value’ land in the greenbelt ie, not lush green fields.

But work on changing the NPPF has long met resistance from groups like Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE).

Last month, the Minister for Housing and Planning, Matthew Pennycook, described further adjustments to the policy – sparking fresh concerns.

Andy Smith from CPRE Berkshire said he is especially disquieted by the dropping of Footnote 7 from the greybelt definition – which safeguarded heritage sites and protected landscapes.

Mr Smith said: “Ministers keep saying that [greybelt] is about poor-quality land – they use this oft-quoted example of disused petrol stations.

“We’ve seen absolutely no site in the greenbelt that meets that characterisation.

“They are invariably either productive farmland or accessible open spaces in suburban areas.”

Other ‘alarming’ changes include those to rules on local plans (such as the Borough Local Plan), biodiversity, and affordable housing requirement.

Broadly speaking, the Government wants restrictions to be more relaxed for developments of 10-49 homes.

This is because 80 per cent of these are offered by small and medium housebuilders, it says – and it wants to encourage these developers to come forward with proposals.

Previously, the Government was talking about lighter rules to developments of 10–49 homes on sites up to one hectare.

Now, that treatment would apply to sites up to 2.5 hectares. 

Affordable housing

At the moment, councils usually require a proportion of homes to be provided as affordable housing on sites of a certain size.

Under the changes, more ‘medium’ sites would have the option of meeting the requirement by paying a cash contribution instead.

If this goes ahead, a 10–49 home scheme on a site up to 2.5 hectares could potentially build 100 per cent market homes, forking money over to the council for affordable housing elsewhere instead. 

Local plans

Councils will be required to set aside more land for small-to-medium housing sites when they draw up their local plans.

Before, councils already had to make sure that at least 10 per cent of their housing supply came from small sites under one hectare to help smaller builders compete with big developers.

Now, the Government wants that same requirement to also cover bigger sites – between 1 and 2.5 hectares. 

Biodiversity

The Government is considering letting even more housing schemes avoid biodiversity net gain requirements.

Previously, a small site – 0.2 hectares or fewer – was exempt. The Government is looking to expand the exemption for some brownfield sites up to 2.5 hectares.

The rationale is to reduce cost and friction for smaller and medium builders, as navigating biodiversity requirements can be costly and complicated.

Speaking to the Commons last month, Mr Pennycook said the new policies are designed to make development ‘more certain, consistent and streamlined’ and speed things up.

But Mr Smith says the planning process is ‘not slow’ for most decisions anyway – and that the conversation has been ‘spun’ into a narrative of ‘builders versus blockers.’

“This government narrative that there are all these delays in the system and that’s why we’re not getting the homes we need is simply fictional,” he said.

“The reality is we’re not getting the actual homes that we need – affordable and social homes – in the areas they are needed.”

An MHCLG spokesperson said: “Our changes will maintain strong protections for the greenbelt while ensuring that homes are built with the infrastructure people need.

“This is the most significant rewrite of planning rules in over a decade and will fix the broken system we inherited.”