The Bill, which was introduced to Parliament in December last year, will devolve more power from central government to local councils, so that communities have more control over housing and planning decisions in their areas.

Once Royal Assent is received (which should be a formality) and the relevant sections come into force, the Bill will, amongst other things:

1. Abolish the Regional Strategies;

2. Force local planning authorities (LPAs) to co-operate with each other on issues which cross council boundaries, particularly in relation to sustainable development and the use of land for strategic infrastructure.

3. Make changes to the Community Infrastructure Levy, so that LPAs will have greater control over the setting of their charges;

4. Introduce Neighbourhood development orders and plans (so local communities can specify where they think development should take place and how the local area should be planned);

5. Require developers to consult local communities before submitting planning applications for certain developments;

6. Introduce new enforcement measures for LPAs, including the power to reject retrospective planning applications; extend time limits on taking enforcement action against people who conceal unauthorised development; set new financial penalties; and increase powers to deal with unauthorised advertisements;

7. Abolish the Infrastructure Planning Commission, so that its functions can be transferred to a new unit in the Planning Inspectorate and decisions can be made by democratically elected (and accountable) government minsters; and

8. Reform the delivery of social housing.

Royal Assent could be given as early this week, but, if not, certainly before the end of the year; the Bill is then expected to come into force in April 2012 (although confirmation is still awaited.)

UPDATE: The Localism Bill received Royal Assent on 15 November 2011.

The decision is important because it was Cala’s planning application that led to it launching a judicial review at the High Court against Eric Pickles’ decision to effectively abolish the Regional Strategies in 2010. Click here for full details.

Neither Cala Homes nor its lawyers have yet to make an announcement on the decision, but it could launch a challenge under section 288 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.

Stevenage Borough Council’s expansion plans, which were part of the East of England Plan, were rejected because its housing targets were dependant on housing growth by North Hertfordshire District Council. However, following the Government’s announcement that it intended to abolish the Regional Strategies, North Hertfordshire District Council suspended work on the joint project. Further details are here.

During the inquiry into Stevenage Borough Council’s housing plans, North Hertfordshire District Council informed the planning inspector that its new plans would not provide for Stevenage’s planned growth, meaning that the growth of the town would be undeliverable.

However, in the long-running Cala Homes case, the Court of Appeal ruled that local councils cannot take into account the Government’s intention to abolish the Regional Strategies when formulating planning policies (although abolition was capable of being a “material consideration” on certain occasions.) This has formed the basis for Stevenage Borough Council’s legal challenge to the planning inspector’s decision.

Stevenage is designated as a major housing growth point in the East of England Plan. The Plan, which was adopted in 2008, involved Stevenage Borough Council linking with neighbouring North Hertfordshire District Council to extend Stevenage’s boundaries by building 9,600 homes to the west and north of the town. However North Hertfordshire District Council withdrew from the planned expansion in June 2010 after the incoming Coalition Government announced the abolition of the Regional Strategies through the Localism Bill.

Subsequently, North Hertfordshire District Council began work on its own housing targets, whilst Stevenage Borough Council pressed ahead with its expansion plans.

North Hertfordshire District Council and Hertfordshire County Council submitted a joint legal challenge to quash Stevenage Borough Council’s expansion plans. The councils complained that the Secretary of State had failed to impose conditions that would deliver the requirements of the Government’s carbon dioxide and energy performance policy in the East of England Plan (i.e. that developments of more than 10 dwellings must secure 10 per cent of their energy from decentralised and renewable or low-carbon sources.)

The Court quashed the decision to grant planning permission, agreeing that (1) the conditions were not compliant with the renewable energy policies in the East of England Plan, and also that (2) the permission failed to secure the provision of temporary school accommodation that the then Secretary of State had intended.

The application will now go back to Eric Pickles, the current Secretary of State, for reconsideration. He could decide to re-open the inquiry or refuse planning permission.

Cala had claimed that the Government’s intention to revoke the Regional Strategies could not be a lawful material consideration for local authorities when making decisions on planning applications. The Court of Appeal has rejected this claim.

This ruling is the latest in the long-running legal dispute between Cala and the Government, which stretches back to last year. Click here for full details.

Although Cala lost the appeal, the Court of Appeal praised the clarification that the case has brought to this contentious issue. Also, whilst finding that it would be wrong to say that the intention to revoke the Regional Strategies could never be a lawful material consideration when considering planning applications, the Court of Appeal qualified this by saying that it would only be in extreme cases when the intention to revoke would constitute a material consideration.

The ruling, therefore, leaves the door open for housebuilders to launch appeals over some planning decisions.

Cala Homes is challenging the Government’s claim that its intention to abolish the Regional Strategies should be considered by local planning authorities when ruling on planning applications.

Cala Homes, which successfully won a judicial review back in November 2010, was defeated in the High Court in February 2011 (click here for full details), but given permission to appeal the ruling.

The appeal began on 5 May and was expected to conclude today (6 May), with the decision reserved until a later date. I will post full details of the ruling in due course.

This environmental assessment will be “voluntary”, but the Government intends to produce one environmental report per region. It will then be consulted on, in line with the process laid down in the Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes Regulations 2004, in order to help local authorities identify issues relevant to their areas and policies or initiatives in the regional strategies which are no longer in effect.

The Government intends to abolish the regional strategies through the Localism Bill, and the environmental assessment process will be carried out during the Bill’s parliamentary progress.

The reforms, which were unveiled in the Localism Bill (click here for more details), are designed to give local people more of a say in the way their neighbourhoods are developed. Through local parish councils or neighbourhood forums, local people will be able to decide which types of development should be given automatic planning permission through a ‘Neighbourhood Development Order’ (NDO). If approved by a local referendum, a council will have to adopt a neighbourhood plan, providing it is line with the council’s wider ambitions for growth in the area.

Local authorities will work with community groups and parish councils in the 17 pilot neighbourhood areas to prepare draft plans and NDOs. These documents will be prepared under the current legal and policy framework, ahead of the new provisions for neighbourhood planning that will be introduced by the Localism Bill when it is enacted. (It is thought that the Bill will be enacted in late 2011 and will come into force in early 2012.)

The 17 ‘front-runners’ include both rural and urban areas. They are:

1. Birmingham City Council – Balsall Heath (Birmingham);

2. Bristol City Council – Lockleaze (Bristol);

3. London Borough of Southwark – Bermondsey;

4. London Borough of Sutton – Hackbridge;

5. North Tyneside Council – North Shields Fish Quay;

6. Wirral Borough Council – Devonshire Park;

7. Allerdale Borough Council – Cockermouth;

8. Blaby District Council – Blaby;

9. Cherwell Borough Council – Banbury;

10. Exmoor National Park Authority – Lynton;

11. Gedling Borough Council – Newstead;

12. Lewes District Council – Ringmer;

13. Northumberland County – Allendale;

14. Shropshire Council – Much Wenlock;

15. Teignbridge District Council – Dawlish;

16. West Dorset District Council – Cerne Abbas; and

17. Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead – Bray.

Each of the 17 pilot areas will receive £20,000 towards developing their plan from a £1m fund.

The pilot areas will not be able to put their draft plans and NDOs into effect until the relevant provisions on neighbourhood planning in the Localism Bill come into force.

Full details of the High Court ruling and the background to the case are here.

Cala’s solicitors have said that the hearing is expected to take place in early May 2011.

This is a very important case for housebuilders and developers, and we will continue to provide details of any further developments, as and when they occur.

This decision follows months of uncertainty. In August 2010, Cala Homes launched a legal challenge to the Government’s decision, and in November 2010 the High Court ruled that the abolition of the Regional Strategies was unlawful. Despite this ruling, the Communities and Local Government Secretary, Eric Pickles, and the Government’s chief planning officer wrote to all local planning authorities, informing them of the Government’s intention to still abolish the Regional Strategies in the Localism Bill, and that planning authorities should regard this as a material consideration when making planning decisions. This stance was subsequently legally challenged by Cala Homes and although the High Court granted a temporary stay on this government guidance, Mr Pickles contested the decision. A compromise was reached, with the Department for Communities and Local Government having to formally publicise the existence of Cala Homes’ second legal challenge.

The High Court has now rejected Cala Homes’ second legal challenge.

The Court ruled that Cala Homes’ challenge was “based on an incorrect understanding of what the Secretary of State has actually done.” It said that Mr Pickles had “not enjoined local planning authorities to assume that Regional Strategies have already been revoked”, but had in fact “advise(d) authorities, when making decisions to which such regional policy is relevant, to take into account the fact that the Government intends to promote, through legislation, a reform of the existing planning system in England, the effect of which would be to remove Regional Strategies as an element of the development plan.”

This ruling means that planners can take into account the Government’s intention to abolish the Regional Strategies. However, this may not be the end of the saga… Cala’s solicitors have said that they will be seeking permission to appeal the ruling at the Court of Appeal.

The New Housing Pipeline quarterly report, which was published today by the Home Builders Federation (HBF), says that planning permissions dropped from 40,453 in the first quarter of 2010 to 31,553 in the third quarter.

The Home Builders Federation has called the decline “alarming”, but the drop is probably primarily due to the ongoing confusion surrounding the Government’s proposed changes to the planning system (click here for more details.)

As I have been saying in previous posts, and which this new report highlights, it is vital to developers and the housebuilding industry that the Government implements its new policies as soon as possible, so that this policy ‘vacuum’ is filled.

The eagerly-awaited court hearing between the Government and Cala Homes (South) Ltd will help to bring some clarity to the situation, and it is expected to take place in the week beginning 17 January 2011. Cala is seeking a declaration from the High Court that the Government’s intention to revoke the Regional Strategies is unlawful. Click here for more details.

For developers, it’s once again a case of wait and see…

UPDATE: The Localism Bill will have its Second reading in the House of Commons on 17 January 2011. To see how the Localism Bill will impact on planning, please click here.

The Bill, which aims to transfer more central government powers to local level, includes proposals to significantly reform planning law (see Part 5 of the Bill.)

This article looks at the Bill’s key proposals to shake-up planning law. Of course, the Bill is subject to parliamentary scrutiny, so these proposals may change.

The main proposals are:

1. Abolishing the Regional Strategies. There has been a lot of confusion and contention surrounding this issue. Click here and here for further details;

2. Amending the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL). Local authorities will have more control over the setting of the CIL. They will have to allocate a proportion of the CIL revenues they receive from developers back to the local neighbourhoods where the development(s) have taken place. This will allow those most directly affected by development to benefit from it. For a related story on the CIL, please click here;

3. Restricting the role of the Planning Inspectorate. The Planning Inspectorate will be unable to re-write local plans, which guide development in local areas. Instead, the Inspectorate will be allowed to assess plans at a public examination, and will have to rule them “sound” before they can be adopted. Amendments will only be suggested at the request of the local authority. Local authorities will be able to suggest changes during the public examination, and will be forced to publish up-to-date information, so that local people can see what planning documents they are preparing;

4. Introduction of “neighbourhood plans.” The Town and Country Planning Act 1990 will be amended to introduce neighbourhood planning rights (“neighbourhood development orders”) that allow local communities to permit certain types of development without the need for planning permission. The idea is that parish councils and “neighbourhood forums” can come together to decide where new shops, offices or homes should be built in their area and what green spaces should be protected. All such developments will be voted on by local people in local referendums (more than 50 per cent of the vote is required to approve a development);

5. Abolish the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC). This will mean that government ministers will take decisions on nationally significant infrastructure projects, such as airports and wind farms;

6. Duty to co-operate. The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 will be amended, so that local authorities and public bodies have to co-operate with each other in relation to the planning of sustainable development. This includes the preparation of development plan documents;

7. Pre-application consultation. Developers will be required to consult the local community before submitting a planning application for a large development – the Government has suggested that this could be, for example, a residential development of more than 200 units. Developers will have to take into account any opinions raised during this consultation before submitting their planning applications; and

8. Enforcement. Local authority planning enforcement powers will be improved. The Bill will tackle abuses such as making misleading planning applications, and running retrospective planning applications and enforcement appeals simultaneously. Other enforcement measures include increased financial penalties for planning-related offences, and the extension of time limits for taking action against people who conceal unauthorised development. 

The Bill raises a huge number of issues (and questions) and will have significant implications for local authorities and developers.

Although the Government says that the Bill is not a “Nimbys’ charter”, developers will need to get local people to embrace development in their areas.

In light of the proposed new local referendums and pre-application consultations, developers will need to be able to influence local residents, persuading them of the merits of their schemes and proposals. Developers may also find themselves having to collaborate with third parties on the design of a development.

It will be interesting to see how the definition of “neighbourhood” in the Bill develops, as it could constitute a small or large number of people, meaning that a vote on a potential development may be decided by only a few local people.

The Second reading of the Bill is scheduled to take place in the House of Commons on 13 January 2011. We will update you with any significant developments during the Bill’s parliamentary progress.

In November, I wrote that, following a judicial review launched by Cala Homes (South) Ltd, the High Court had ruled that the revocation of the Regional Strategies was unlawful and that the High Court had put a temporary block on the Government’s guidance – published in a letter to all local planning authorities (LPAs) – that its plans to abolish the Regional Strategies must be regarded as a material consideration when making planning decisions. The temporary block will stay in place until the full legal hearing into the lawfulness of the revocation is heard in early 2011.

In the wake of the High Court ruling, the Planning Inspectorate has issued a statement, informing LPAs and planning inspectors that:

1. The Government is defending the judicial review challenge issued by Cala Homes (South) Ltd; and

2. Until the outcome of the aforementioned judicial review, LPAs and the Planning Inspectorate will need to consider whether the existence of the legal challenge and the basis of it (i.e that the Government’s intended revocation of the Regional Strategies in the forthcoming Decentralisation and Localism Bill is immaterial to the determination of planning applications and appeals before the revocation of Regional Strategies) affects the significance and weight that they should attach to the Government’s statements and guidance.

UPDATE:  The Localism Bill will be published on Monday 13th December. The news was announced on Twitter last night by the Communities secretary Eric Pickles. Mr Pickles tweeted “Localism Bill will be introduced next Monday. Lots of power to Councils.” We will analyse the content (and potential implications) of the Bill in due course.

UPDATE (Feb 2011): Cala Homes (South) Ltd has lost its High Court challenge against the Government’s claim that its intention to abolish the Regional Strategies should be considered by local planning authorities when ruling on planning applications. Click here for full details.

This announcement follows a recent successful legal challenge by Cala Homes (South) Ltd, which resulted in the High Court ruling that the Communities and Local Government Secretary, Eric Pickles, had acted unlawfully when he announced the revocation of the Regional Strategies in England back in May (further details are here.)

Despite the High Court ruling, Mr Pickles and the Government’s chief planning officer wrote to all local planning authorities (LPAs), informing them of the Government’s intention to still abolish the Regional Strategies in the forthcoming Decentralisation and Localism Bill, and that LPAs should regard this as a material consideration when making planning decisions. Cala responded by making a further application to the High Court, challenging the lawfulness of this Government statement and asking for the letter to be withdrawn.

The application has now been expedited, pending a full legal hearing into the lawfulness of the Government’s statement, which will probably be sometime in early 2011. As a result, until the outcome of that hearing, no regard should be given to the Government’s intention to abolish the Regional Strategies.  

The situation remains unclear: the Regional Strategies may have been reinstated, but they are still due to be scrapped (the Decentralisation and Localism Bill is expected to be issued in December.) Also, the current situation increases the possibility that there will be a number of legal challenges to planning decisions that were made on the basis of Mr Pickle’s advice that LPAs should act as though the Regional Strategies had already been scrapped (even though they hadn’t been.)

One thing is clear: confusion reigns.

UPDATE (Feb 2011): Cala Homes (South) Ltd has lost its High Court challenge against the Government’s claim that its intention to abolish the Regional Strategies should be considered by local planning authorities when ruling on planning applications. Click here for full details.

Back in August, I wrote about Cala Homes (South) Ltd’s move to seek a judicial review of the Government’s decision to abolish the Regional Strategies in May this year, which it claimed was unlawful. The developer argued that primary legislation should have been introduced, so that MPs could properly debate the issue in Parliament.

Mr Pickles’ decision to revoke the Regional Strategies has been widely criticised in the housebuilding sector for effectively leaving a policy ‘vacuum’ in the planning process, because it removed housing targets and directly resulted in the abandonment of proposals to build tens of thousands of new homes.

So what happens now? Will the Regional Strategies be reinstated?

Well, the ruling may only succeed in delaying the scrapping of the housing targets until autumn 2011, when the impending Decentralisation and Localism Bill is expected to become law. Certainly, initial comments from departmental ministers following the ruling have confirmed that the Regional Strategies will still disappear, calling the High Court’s decision a “technicality” which “changes very little.” The Government is not expected to appeal the decision.

For housebuilders who have been hoping to gain some clarity on the situation since May, it is once again a case of wait and see…

UPDATE (Feb 2011): Cala Homes (South) Ltd has lost its High Court challenge against the Government’s claim that its intention to abolish the Regional Strategies should be considered by local planning authorities when ruling on planning applications. Click here for full details.

Well, one housebuilder has now launched a legal challenge against the Government.

CALA Homes has asked the High Court for a judicial review of the Government’s decision to abolish the Regional Strategies, claiming it was unlawful because (1) the move required primary legislation to be laid down in Parliament, and (2) no transitional arrangements were put in place, which, in the words of Graham Cunningham, managing director of CALA Homes (South), has created a “policy vacuum.”

CALA Homes’ legal challenge centres on a long-running development dispute. Its application for planning permission to build 2,000 homes in Winchester was rejected by the local council in June (following the abolition of the Regional Strategies), but it argues that its appeal against the refusal cannot take place while there is an absence of government planning policy.

CALA Homes is not alone. The number of development schemes being abandoned or put on hold by local councils since the abolition of the Regional Strategies is growing; in fact, according to research published by Tetlow King Planning on behalf of the National Housing Federation in July, plans for 85,000 homes in England have been dropped since the abolition. In a further development, an alliance of nearly 30 organisations, including property groups, engineering bodies and environmental charities, have all signed a letter this month calling for an urgent meeting with Eric Pickles, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, to discuss how to replace the Regional Strategies. Pressure on the Government is mounting.

Coincidentally, the Government has now announced details of its ‘New Homes Bonus Scheme’, whereby local councils will be given extra money for every new home built in their area. For the next six years, the Government will match the council tax revenue raised on each new house, thus encouraging local councils to build more homes. Housebuilders, though, who are still unhappy at the decision to abolish the Regional Strategies, urgently require more details of the Scheme. However, with a consultation on the Scheme not due to be published until after the Government’s Spending Review on 20 October, housebuilders may unfortunately have to wait a bit longer.

UPDATE (Feb 2011): Cala Homes (South) Ltd has lost its High Court challenge against the Government’s claim that its intention to abolish the Regional Strategies should be considered by local planning authorities when ruling on planning applications. Click here for full details.

Well, according to new research by the Financial Times newspaper, since May (when the Government announced its intention to scrap the Regional Strategies), local authorities have rejected a number of residential development projects that would have created 7,500 new homes across the UK. Why? Because local authorities felt emboldened by the Government’s decision on 27 May to allow them to act as though the Regional Strategies had already been scrapped (even though they officially hadn’t been scrapped and wouldn’t be until 6 July.)

Whilst local authorities await more guidance from the Government on its housing policy, developers find themselves ‘in limbo’, with a growing number of local development plans either being cancelled or put on hold because of uncertainty over the policy. The implementation of the financial incentives that the Government has proposed to encourage local authorities to build more houses can’t come quick enough.

Back in May, the Government promised to bring in new legislation that would scrap ‘top-down’ house-building targets and give local authorities the freedom to make their own decisions on what is built in their communities. Mr Pickles then followed this up by writing to local authorities, asking them to act as though the Regional Strategies had already been scrapped (even though they officially hadn’t.) The result was that many local authorities decided to hold off making decisions on some development proposals until the Government clarified its position, leaving many developers in limbo. 

However, the Government has now made a statement to Parliament to end the imposition of the Regional Strategies with immediate effect: an order revoking the Strategies was laid before Parliament on 6 July, and instead of centrally imposed house-building quotas, local authorities will be offered “powerful new (financial) incentives” to encourage support for the construction of new homes in their locality. The Chancellor has suggested that the “financial incentives” could be passed onto local residents via council tax or business rates.

This move is another step by the Government to transfer centrally-held powers to local communities. In this instance, the Government believes that the changes will increase house-building, help local councils protect green belt land, and allow local communities to decide what should be built in their areas. Towns that were planning to make green belt land cuts because of centrally-imposed targets will now be able to make their own decisions where new development is built. They include Guildford, Harlow, Hatfield, Hemel Hempstead, Stevenage and Welwyn.

Some MPs and the British Property Federation (BPF) have warned that the change raises a number of serious questions for local authorities, and that further clarification is needed to ensure a smooth transition. No doubt developers will agree.