Housing uncertainty could open door to huge developments

Breckland Council's cabinet is set to vote in favour of shelving its local plan update, which helps determine where housing is built in the years ahead. This comes amid uncertainty surrounding the Labour government's planning strategy. 

The local plan should be reviewed every five years and is set to expire, meaning huge housing developments could push through as the council risks losing control over where new homes are built. 

The delay also means further months of uncertainty for those living in villages such as Larling, which would get thousands of new homes under the council's draft proposals. 

Larling village (Image: Denise Bradley) WHAT IS THE LOCAL PLAN?

The Breckland local plan guides housing in the district and sets out which types of development are suitable for various towns and villages. 

The current plan was adopted in 2019 and outlines  a strategy for delivering the homes, jobs and infrastructure needed in the district until 2036. 

The updated plan will determine growth and development in the district up to 2046. It was expected to be submitted for examination by the government next year prior to its adoption.

Breckland Council is reviewing its local plan (Image: Ian Burt)

The draft proposals set out the need to deliver a minimum of 16,525 new homes and earmark sites in Larling, Dereham and Swanton Morley as potential opportunities for large housing developments. 

However, the council is now set to slam the brakes on the approval process as it awaits clarity surrounding the government's new housing targets. 

WHAT IS THE RISK? 

The current plan will be out of date within two months. While its update remains on hold the council risks failing to demonstrate that it has a five year housing supply, which proves it can deliver sufficient homes.

Without this, councils lose control over where new homes are built and the door is left open for developers to win permission for housing sites that aren't allocated in a plan.

This could see huge developments slip through the cracks of the planning process.

Breckland Council officials say the authority will not be able to maintain its five year housing supply if policy changes proposed by the government are given the green light. 

WHAT IS THE GOVERNMENT CHANGING? 

The Labour government has published draft revisions to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), the guidelines that govern the planning system. Its proposed changes include raising the national housing target to 370,000 new homes per year.

These changes will see the requirement in Breckland hiked by around 300 per year above the current target of 661. 

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has unveiled an overhaul of planning rules (Image: Chris Furlong/PA)

Under the Conservative government these targets were advisory rather than mandatory. They allowed councils to allocate less land to future development if local officials could argue it would damage the character of an area.

This resulted in swathes of local plans with lower housing numbers, Labour has claimed.

The changes which are currently under consultation will require councils to re-calculate how much land they must allocate for new housing, to ensure supply is boosted in every part of the country.

The government will also allow the targeted release of so-called grey belt land, which includes disused petrol stations and car parks on parts of protected land known as the green belt.

Breckland Council's cabinet will decide whether to pause its local plan update for an unspecified 'temporary period' while it awaits publication of the revised NPPF at a meeting on September 23.