Agenda item

Report HPR2022/035

The Committee considered a report seeking the endorsement of the Housing Delivery Test (HDT) Action Plan 2021. The Government’s HDT results for 2021 showed that Bromley’s housing delivery for the three-year period 2018-2021 fell below 95% of the Borough housing target for this period. As a result, national planning policy stated that the Local Planning Authority (LPA) should publish an action plan to: identify the reasons for under-delivery; explore ways to reduce the risk of further under-delivery; and set out measures the authority intended to take to improve levels of delivery.

A Member asked for further information relating to the responses received following the ‘call for sites’ consultation exercise that had been undertaken. The Head of Planning Policy and Strategy advised that around 95 responses had been received, which was a good rate. This had been the initial consultation on the Local Plan and work was ongoing to assess the sites, with a view to initiate the next stage of the Local Plan towards the end of 2022. It was noted that the ‘call for sites’ responses would also help inform strategies on housing supply and possibly land for economic use.

A Member highlighted paragraph 2.7 of the report, which related to data collection changes and stated that ‘these issues will hopefully be rectified by summer 2022 and missing housing schemes uploaded into the new system’. The Head of Planning Policy and Strategy advised that this related to the new monitoring system that the GLA had moved to, and the teething issues that had been experienced. Over the last year, there had been manual validation of data, and there may be permissions that the team were unaware of, that could potentially increase the delivery rate. However, it was highlighted that this was unlikely as a detailed validation exercise had been undertaken. Another Member questioned whether all builds were picked up and fed into the database – due to the implications of this, there was a need to ensure that the numbers were correct. The Head of Planning Policy and Strategy considered that the methods used by the GLA were fairly robust but there was the potential for schemes to “fall through the gap”. If there were specific premises that were a concern, he would be happy to feed this back to the GLA to check that they had been captured.

A Member enquired as to how the builds were reported and how long they took to appear on the system. The Head of Planning Policy and Strategy advised that the system was continually updated by the GLA using various sources of data, such as Council Tax, and once a year a comprehensive ‘starts and completions survey’ was undertaken. This involved officers looking at the list of schemes to check if they had been started or reached practical completion and were at a level where they could be occupied. In response to a further question, the Head of Planning Policy and Strategy said that the figures for 2022 were not yet known.

A Member noted that, across the Borough, there were various buildings and plots of land that remained empty for some time and enquired if special attention could be given to these sites. The Head of Planning Policy and Strategy advised that encouraging the reuse of properties fell outside the remit of Planning but any empty properties brought back into use were included as part of the housing supply statistics.

A Member considered that the action plan would help going forward as brownfield sites needed to be looked at to prevent the housing supply being delivered in a minority of Wards – there were areas that should be identified for housing. Compulsory purchase and site allocation was also important. Even though there was a need for schemes to be brought forward quickly, it was vital that consultations be as broad as possible. Another Member reminded officers that a brownfield site previously suggested was the site of the old Crystal Palace – if built on, this could provide a significant amount of homes, and should be included in the ‘call for sites’.

In response to questions, the Head of Planning Policy and Strategy advised that the figures provided on page 245 of the agenda pack related to dwellings, however it was not known if they were occupied. It was confirmed that the Local Plan review was underway and would be taken forward over the next two to three years. The Member further noted the need to protect and preserve the Green Belt and open spaces, however a number of towns throughout Kent were permitting housing developments on open farm land. This highlighted that land was in short supply, hence high-rise blocks being submitted for planning permission.

In response to questions, the Assistant Director for Planning advised that pre-application services were available for larger schemes but had been temporarily suspended for smaller schemes. They hoped to get this reinstated as soon as possible, as it was beneficial to have these early discussions and try to shape applications so that the applicant had a greater chance of being successful. With regards to the Planning Performance Agreement (PPA), this was something that was intended to be trialled with a Council scheme, however this had not yet come forward. The PPA would be undertaken as soon as was possible, as it could help to bring in additional resources to fund the process, which would make it more adaptable.

A Member noted the social rent schemes that had been delivered across the Borough and enquired if sites identified for future builds were part of plans to increase affordable housing. The Head of Planning Policy and Strategy advised that this was led by the Regeneration Team. During the ‘call for sites’ exercise, they had discussed the sites expected to come forward for social housing, and any other development, for consideration.

The Chairman enquired if land banking was an issue in the borough. The Head of Planning Policy and Strategy said it was difficult to tell, as the evidence was contradictory, but he considered that the issue was minimal in the Borough.

RESOLVED that the Development Control Committee endorse the Housing Delivery Test Action Plan (shown at Appendix 1 of the report) for publication on the Council’s website.