Braintree District Council has published its latest five-year housing land supply which demonstrates it can show a supply of 5.8 years.
For a number of years, a policy set by central government required councils to publish a five-year housing land supply position statement each year to demonstrate they have enough to meet the new homes targets set for the next five years against their housing requirement. If a council couldn’t demonstrate a five-year housing land supply, a presumption in favour of sustainable development and the tilted balance applied, meaning planning permission should usually be granted.
Central government announced changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) before Christmas which removed the requirement for local authorities who have an up-to-date Local Plan, like Braintree, to have a five-year housing land supply for any new planning applications. The council has updated its five-year housing land supply which will still apply for existing planning applications submitted before 19th December 2023, including planning appeals which are currently ongoing.
The five-year housing land supply is made up of sites which already have full planning permission along with those which have outline planning permission, with evidence that they will be coming forward in the next 5 years.
In the Braintree district, over 14,000 new houses are identified as being needed across the district by 2033. Braintree District Council continues to work hard to secure money through the planning process to ensure that alongside new houses, partners bring forward essential local services and are supported with investment in community facilities, roads and infrastructure improvements and more affordable housing. Over £200,000 was committed last year for new tennis courts at Courtauld Sports Ground in Halstead and over £1m for four new third generation artificial grass pitches in Braintree and Witham, as well as a new multi-use games area installed at Shalford Village Hall.
Cllr Gabrielle Spray, Cabinet Member for Planning and Infrastructure at Braintree District Council, said: “The council being able to deliver its five-year land supply will be welcome news to many communities, which will support us in helping protect towns and villages across the district which have been subject to unplanned, speculative development.
“Councils being held hostage to the housing land supply and it being given more weight in planning decisions over local plans, neighbourhood plans and other local policies is something we lobbied government to change for many years. We’re pleased that for new applications this no longer applies, although we are disappointed that the transitional arrangements mean all existing applications and appeals do not benefit from this change. We’ll continue to ensure we can meet the demand for housing sustainably while protecting those towns and villages where development should not be considered.”