MPs concerned that Government planning targets may be “driving perverse behaviour” by councils in England have launched an enquiry into the effects of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), introduced in 2012.
According to the Communities and Local Government Committee, although some authorities have been praised for the speed of their decision-making, the same authorities are making life “horrendous” for the developers working with them.
Under the Framework, planning law in England was changed in a bid to accelerate planning decisions and speed up house building, meaning that local authorities must now work out their area’s future housing needs and then allocate sufficient land to meet them.
However, some councils have merely been playing the system, such as rejecting planning applications and then asking developers to resubmit the same application purely to meet the target time for a decision. That said, the committee has pointed out that other planning departments have indeed raised their game.
As a spokesman for the committee pointed out, the aim of introducing the NPPF was to streamline and speed up the planning system, which in many cases it has, but it is vital that the projects bringing new homes and jobs to their areas get under way as soon as possible, while being effective and demonstrating best practice.
He added that the committee has already acted to tackle concerns with councils and agreed that they can have an extension of time if applications need more time than usual. He also warned that local authorities that refuse applications prematurely risk having costs awarded against them at appeal.
The inquiry will scrutinise the operation of the NPPF in its first two years and will focus on its impact on three key areas: planning for housing; town centres; and planning for energy infrastructure, excluding that covered by National Policy Statements. Interested parties wishing to give evidence should do so online by Thursday 8 May.