NPPF ‘not fit for purpose’, says consultant

Housing delivery in the north of England is being “pared back” as councils in the region adopt a “do the minimum” way of measuring housing need, according to a consultant in the region.

Manchester-based Turley said the government’s methodology for calculating minimum housing need in its National Planning Policy Framework was “inadvertently encouraging a ‘do minimum’ approach across councils”.

Turley cited Leeds, which earlier this year removed more than 30 green-belt sites from its redevelopment plan, and Greater Manchester, whose latest proposals on housing delivery suggested 10,578 homes being built a year, 782 lower than the 11,360 figure outlined in its 2016 local plan.

Greater Manchester’s revised local plan argued it would be building “at least 50,000 homes that people can truly afford”, but according to Turley’s economics chief Antony Pollard councils needed to ensure the framework was being correctly interpreted.

“It’s a document and formula that is meant to provide guidance on the minimum number of homes that should be delivered, not a target,” Pollard said.

“If the delivery of housing in the north reduces it could cause the north-south divide to grow. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem that the cases seen so far are isolated incidents. Many ongoing conversations with local authorities indicate a reduced approach to housing delivery,” he added.

The government says its guidance “identifies a minimum annual housing need figure. It does not produce a housing requirement figure”.

Pollard said it was down to the government “to recognise that its framework isn’t fit for purpose and contradicts [ministers] wider housing and economic aims, particularly in the north”.

The framework “should be revised sooner rather than later to avoid a potentially catastrophic lag in development”, he added.

Politics was playing its part in the lower development numbers, Pollard said, as local councillors – with an eye on re-election – sought to soothe resident concerns around ambitions to build on green space.

“The latest NPPF is not pushing the north hard enough,” he added.