The new NPPF – where will all the development go?

Whether it was local voter backlash or the realization that they were unachievable, the Tories abandoned local authority housing targets a couple of years ago.  So the implications of the new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), setting mandatory housing targets for every local authority (and the softening of the presumption against building in the Green Belt) imposes a new challenge for country house buyers looking for protection against intrusive development.

Here in the south east, local authorities face particular difficulty;  the majority have found it hard to identify building land in their current (or proposed) Local Plans, yet now face having to identify a massive uplift in the mandatory number of dwellings that must be built within the life of this Parliament (i.e. 2029):

While the government may well stress that brownfield sites take precedence, the inevitable conclusion is that, for authorities such as Wealden – where developable land is constrained by the South Downs National Park to the south, and the High Weald AONB to the north – more rural land faces being surrendered to house building, under the pretext that it comprises ‘grey belt’ ( land that contributes little towards the beauty of the countryside).

Our task is to mitigate the risk that our clients purchase is not prejudiced by unexpected development – so even more careful reading of Local Plans and SHLAA’s can be predicted!