Viability appraisals - Planning validation requirements

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Planning document information

Description 

A viability appraisal looks at whether a site is financially viable. The appraisal looks at whether the value generated by a development is more than the cost of developing it. 

You can find out more about viability appraisals on GOV.UK. 

You must submit a viability appraisal if your application is for a development that doesn’t meet our policies on; 

  • affordable housing 
  • open space 
  • any other required contribution 

Guidance 

The appraisal you submit should include an executive summary and be clear, easy to read and jargon free. 

Your viability appraisal must; 

  • be drawn up by a suitable qualified professional 
  • use an open book approach 
  • show your development costs and revenue in detail 

We will have your viability appraisal viability independently reviewed. You will have to pay for our independent assessment of your viability appraisal. 

You can get help and advice from our Duty Planner on viability appraisals and other types of planning applications. 

You can get detailed feedback on your proposal by using our pre-application advice service. 

Personal and confidential statement 

We may publish any information you submit as part of your application. You must tell us if there is any information you do not want us to publish when you submit your application.  

If however, we believe that this information is in the public interest, we reserve the right to publish it.  

We may also decide parts of your submission are not in the public interest and may redact this information. This information may include telephone numbers, email addresses and signatures. 

When you need to submit this information

Depending on the details of your application, you may have to submit a contamination risk assessment when you are making an application for: 

If your application is for one of these types of planning permission, you need to submit a landscape impact assessment if your proposal is not policy compliant for: 

  • affordable housing 
  • open space 
  • any other required contribution 
Validation requirements

Required by 

  • National requirement. You can find details of this requirement in paragraph 57 of the National Planning Policy Framework 
  • Local requirement. You can find details of this requirement in: 
    • Local plan policy - LPP1
    • Local plan policy - LPP52
    • Local plan policy - LPP11
    • Local plan policy - LPP10
    • Local plan policy - LPP61
    • Local plan policy - LPP9
    • Local plan policy - LPP12
    • Local plan policy - LPP15
    • Local plan policy - SP7
    • Local plan policy - LPP50
    • Local plan policy - LPP78
    • Local plan policy - SP6

These policies can be found in the Local Plan 2013 - 2033 document