A recent planning appeal on a site in the village of Woodville in North West Leicestershire has shown just how effective those changes might be.
A developer submitted a planning application for thirty new homes which were to be made available on a self-build or custom build basis. The council refused the planning application because the site was outside the village’s boundary, where development would normally be prevented. They also claimed that they had granted more than enough planning permissions for single plots to meet the need for self-build plots identified by their Self-Build Register.
However that refusal was overturned and planning permission granted on appeal.
The planning inspector recognised that just because a planning permission was for one home, it didn't follow that the home would be built be a self-builder. Instead, they might be built by the land owner or a developer and sold as a finished house. There's nothing wrong with that, of course, but it wouldn't help meet the need for self-build homes.
The shortage of plots of land genuinely available for self-builders in the area was so severe, that the inspector decided it didn't matter that the site was outside the village’s development limits - planning permission should be granted anyway.
This is the first time that the government’s new planning policies have been tested in this way, and it could have a huge impact.
Tracking which plots of land are genuinely self-build plots is difficult to do. Self-build plots are exempt from Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) so the most accurate way of monitoring numbers is through tracking the number of CIL exemptions granted. However, not every local authority charges CIL and some self-builders may be unaware that relief is available.
As a consequence, many councils adopt a similar approach to the one taken by North West Leicestershire and try to count every planning permission for a single dwelling. However, this appeal decision shows that they are wrong to do that.
A second appeal decision, on a site in Gamlingay in South Cambridgeshire reached a similar conclusion. The inspector found that a shortfall in delivery of self-build plots was sufficient to outweigh other policy conflicts. As a consequence, he allowed the appeal for nine self-build plots despite the application being on a greenfield site outside the villages settlement boundary.
This looks to be the beginning of a trend - and a route to delivering more planning permissions on small sites.
In the short-term, that could lead to an increase in the number of plots that are genuinely available to self-builders as council’s choose to relax planning policies to ensure more planning permissions are granted. It is also likely to result in councils seeking to limit the use of some plots for self-build through either the use of planning conditions or Section 106 legal agreements.
In the longer-term, as councils look to introduce new local plans they are likely to include self-build specific planning policies. This has already been done by some councils with, for example, Amber Valley and Huntingdonshire require larger sites to make a proportion of the approved homes available as self-build plots while Shropshire and Tendring councils have policies that relax locational criteria for self-build homes in particular circumstances.
As a specialist land promoter, The Strategic Land Group is as comfortable working on sites for single dwellings as it is larger sites for several hundred homes. Drawing on our own experience of the planning system, and working in conjunction with our sister company - and self-build experts - MyPlot, we're able to deliver planning permission at our cost and risk. Our return is a share of the value of the site once it is sold, so if we don't succeed, it doesn't cost you anything.
If you know of a site that might be suitable for up to five new homes, and you think it could benefit from approach, get in touch today for a free, no obligation consultation.
