Government clarifies plans for inclusion of housing in NSIPs

A briefing note and draft guidance (19-page / 253 KB PDF) issued last week said a clause of the Housing and Planning Bill, which proposes to expand the NSIPs regime to allow projects to include 'an element of housing', is intended to allow up to 500 permanent homes to receive consent through an individual DCO.

The draft guidance said the government does not intend to impose a limit on the types of project that will be allowed to include homes. It said homes will be allowed to receive consent through a DCO if they are 'close to' the proposed infrastructure or if there is a functional need for permanent homes "to support the construction of operation of a project", such as where homes are required for construction workers.

Housing "up to one mile away from any part of the infrastructure for which consent is being sought" will be considered close enough to the infrastructure to be included in a NSIP, the guidance said. However, where "a large amount of housing" is proposed to meet a functional need, the guidance said "it may be more appropriate for this to be in a location that is not in the immediate vicinity of the infrastructure project".

The draft guidance said national and local planning policies will be relevant to the assessment of any application and that fewer homes are likely to be considered appropriate where national policies, such as those protecting green belt land and heritage assets, indicate that development should be restricted.  It also said that homes included on the basis of geographical proximity would be expected to include affordable housing and "an element of starter homes".

When coming to a decision on an application, the guidance said "it will ... be open to the secretary of state to grant consent for the infrastructure, but refuse consent for some or all of the housing".

Planning expert Matthew Fox of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said: "This draft guidance answers many of the questions that were asked when the government announced the incorporation of an 'element of housing' into the NSIP regime. However, it is to be expected that many of these answers will require further scrutiny as the Housing and Planning Bill works its way through parliament."

"Local authorities will take note of the fact that the guidance indicates that the policies of the local plan only 'may' be relevant to the examining authority's recommendation, and developers will question the justification for a 500 dwelling limit," said Fox.

"The guidance also provides interesting detail on both the application and examination process for projects that seek to include housing, including the need to provide an assessment of the impact of housing in terms of local plan provision and housing supply for housing that is to be provided for geographical proximity, rather than functional, reasons," added Fox. "Further, the guidance does not, as might have been expected, explain how the 'functional' need for housing should be assessed by the Examining Authority, but instead puts the onus on developers to prove such need within their application."

"These are just two examples of how, although the NSIP regime provides certainty of timescale, process and consents, this guidance ensures that the procedural hoops of the planning system will remain for housing development, even if it is incorporated within the regime," Fox said.

The Housing and Planning Bill passed its second reading in the House of Commons on Monday. A public bill committee is expected to report on the Bill by 10 December, following detailed scrutiny of its provisions.