On July the 31st a Judicial Review Decision was handed down in favour of West Berkshire and Reading against the Department for Communities and Local Government. The case was regarding a Ministerial Statement made in November 2014 that fundamentally altered the ability of Local Authorities to plan for affordable housing needs on small sites and redeveloped vacant buildings.
The Judicial Review effectively quashes changes made to National Planning Policy Guidance. The court found that the Government had not taken under consideration the impact the change in policy would have where Local Authorities have adopted Local Plans, to meet their statutory housing obligations.
Because Local Authorities are required to write plans that are evidence based and meet the objectively assessed needs for market and affordable housing, the changes would have undermined their ability to do so without significant updates to their Local Plans that would have required identifying a significantly larger number of sites for housing development.
The judgement is detailed and complex, to read the full judgement see: http://www.landmarkchambers.co.uk/userfiles/documents/West%20Berks.pdf
If you would like a detailed summary of the judgement you can contact Arlene Kersley the Rural Housing Enabler at CCB for her interpretation - arlene.kersley@ccberks.org.uk,
The judgement has no direct impact on the development of rural exception sites, but as very few affordable homes are currently being built in rural areas and in tightly constrained urban areas, the decision should ensure that Local Authorities can at least provide what is planned for in their local plans.
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