Date published: 12 December 2024
Nicholas Harris, Stonewater CEO, responds to the Government’s reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework:
“At present, our projects take anywhere from 12 to 18 months to have a decision made, with one recent scheme taking more than two years to receive approval. Change is needed, and today’s updates to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) are welcomed. This must be viewed as one piece of a much larger jigsaw – planning reform alone won’t solve the housing crisis.
“The Government is making all the right sounds to demonstrate it is serious about its homebuilding targets. It is beginning to back this up with policy, evidenced by this week’s NPPF and planning committee reforms and the Devolution White Paper being published next week, which is anticipated to be the biggest shake-up of local authorities in decades
“However, funding is a critical issue in the affordable housing sector. The Government should set out more detail on the future funding programmes as soon as possible to give the sector the time to plan – and to give confidence to the supply chain.
“For example, as rent is the primary source of income for many housing associations, we would like to see a rolling five-year rent settlement set at CPI+1 that allows landlords to implement business plans on a long-term scale.
"We urge the Government to adopt a long-term ‘cap and collar’ approach to the social housing rent settlement. This approach would ensure the sector has guarantees that rental increases would never fall below a certain percentage, in turn allowing the sector to plan effectively. Simultaneously, it reassures customers that rents cannot increase beyond a certain overall cap and ensuring the financial well-being of customers.
“Nonetheless, we welcome the important adjustment to the NPPF that provides greater flexibility to deliver new affordable homes and allowing affordable home providers to respond to local needs and funding. The benefits derived from the provision of affordable homes should be afforded substantial positive weight in the overall planning balance.
“We suggest the Government streamlines the planning process through a zonal system, with an agreed Local Plan and identified housing need. We believe this would speed up the process of residential planning applications, helping us deliver more homes on time, while also resulting in more effective public engagement in the planning process.”