For the first time in years, the East Dorset plan area is purported to have a five-year housing land supply. The recently published calculation shows a supply of 5.36 years, with a surplus of 169 homes. Commenting on the announcement, Steve Tapscott, Associate Director at Chapman Lily, said ‘no doubt the announcement will be welcomed by communities, after the many speculative planning applications in area that were successful because of the lack of a five-year supply. However, the margin of surplus is only small and the published report omits to record details and assumptions of the sites counted in the supply. National policy strongly discourages counting homes with only outline planning permission and the report admits that such sites are counted. It also includes a windfall allowance of 258 homes, despite national policy making clear that to be counted, a site has to be available now, suitable now and achievable within five years. The report may therefore be subject to scrutiny and challenge’.
If you would like to know more about how this might affect you, please contact Chapman Lily Planning.