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Annual Position Statements: Three councils seek to “confirm” their deliverable housing land supply position for a year

The concept of Annual Position Statements (APS) was introduced as part of the July 2018 update to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). Three councils - Fylde Borough Council, Mid Sussex District Council and Wyre Council - have now acted to confirm their five year deliverable housing land supply position for a one year period by submitting an APS to the Planning Inspectorate.

An APS provides an opportunity for a local planning authority with a “recently adopted” Local Plan to confirm it has a five year supply of deliverable housing land, and “fix” that supply for a one year period.  This means that the local planning authority cannot have its five year deliverable housing land position challenged at either application or appeal for a one year period following the approval by the Planning Inspectorate of its APS. This will reduce the opportunity for developers to obtain planning permission for housing development on sites not identified in the Local Plan, or on sites that are contrary to housing policies in the Local Plan.

Take up of APS by local planning authorities has been slow. Local planning authorities have until 1 April each year to confirm to the Planning Inspectorate that they intend to prepare an APS, and until 31 July to submit an APS for examination. Prior to the deadline earlier in 2019, only the following nine local planning authorities confirmed an intention to prepare an APS:

  • Boston Borough Council;
  • Durham County Council;
  • Fylde Borough Council;
  • Mid Sussex District Council;
  • North Devon Council;
  • North Somerset Council;
  • Sefton Council;
  • Torridge District Council; and
  • Wyre Council.

Of these local planning authorities, only Fylde Borough Council, Mid Sussex District Council and Wyre Council submitted an APS for examination by the 31 July deadline.

The table below shows the five year deliverable housing supply position claimed by each of these local planning authorities in their respective APS.

Annual Position Statements table

The three local authorities have adopted Local Plans which were examined on the basis of the policies of the previous iteration of the NPPF, published in March 2012. For the purposes of determining whether a particular housing site is “deliverable” within the next five years, the earlier document included an alternative definition. The revised definition now states that sites with outline planning permission should only be considered deliverable where there is clear evidence that housing completions will begin on the site within five years. This potentially reduces the number of sites that a local planning authority can include in its five year deliverable housing supply. Part of the rationale for these local planning authorities in preparing an APS may therefore be to confirm that they still have a five year supply of deliverable housing sites under the new definition of “deliverable”.

The evidence and monitoring documents for both Fylde and Wyre, which were published in 2018, for instance, indicated that both had a significantly higher quantum of deliverable housing sites than now indicated in their respective APS. Fylde’s 2018 Housing Land Supply Statement indicated that, as of 31 March 2018, its deliverable housing land supply was 9.7 years. Wyre’s September 2018 Housing Land Supply Position Statement indicated that it had a deliverable housing land supply of 11.2 years as of 31 March 2018.

The significant reductions in these local authorities’ deliverable housing land supplies may be due to a reduction in the number of “deliverable” housing sites as a result of the revised definition of “deliverable” in the 2019 version Framework.

These two local authorities now have marginal deliverable housing land supplies, and their reasoning for preparing and submitting APS will be to ensure that this marginal supply cannot be challenged through planning appeals over the next year.

Mid Sussex was confirmed as having a marginal five year deliverable housing supply through its recent Local Plan examination. The Local Plan Examination Inspector’s report indicated that there was a 5.2 year deliverable supply as of 21 July 2017. Mid Sussex’s reasoning for preparing and submitting an APS is therefore likely to be in order to confirm that it can still demonstrate a deliverable five year supply following adoption of the Local Plan.

If the Planning Inspector approves these local planning authorities’ APS, it would confirm that each has a five year deliverable housing supply over the next year, until 31 October 2020. This would ensure that Local Plan policies relating to the location of housing remain up-to-date, and removes the ability for developers to prepare a case which seeks to undermine the five year housing land supply as part of a planning appeal.

However, until the APS is confirmed by an inspector and adopted, there remains a considerable risk for these three local planning authorities. If the Planning Inspector does not approve their APS, it would confirm that the local planning authority does not have a deliverable five year housing supply. The housing policies in the Local Plan would immediately become out-of-date and planning applications for housing development would be determined under the “tilted balance” set out in the Presumption in Favour of Sustainable Development. This would negate the need for developers to run a five year housing land supply case in appeals to confirm this position, and is likely to result in an increase in speculative developments.

The Planning Inspectorate will now examine the three submitted APS; assessing whether the correct process has been followed in preparing the APS (including considering whether sufficient consultation has taken place with the development industry), and whether the local planning authority has provided sufficient evidence to demonstrate that sites are “deliverable”. Decisions are due to be made before 31 October 2019.

If you would like to discuss the potential implications of these APS, or would like to discuss housing supply matters in general, please get in touch with Paul Forshaw or Mike O’Brien.

3 September 2019