The Planning Practice Guidance (PPG) was updated on 5th February 2024 to clarify the effect of the new National Planning Policy Framework on ‘Housing Supply and Delivery.’
Para 226 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) serves to reduce the housing land supply requirement from 5 to 4 years where there is an emerging local plan that has reached Regulation 18 stage and includes a policies map and housing allocations contributing to supply. However, there had been some ambiguity as to whether the 4-year housing land supply should be measured against a 4 or 5 year target.
Crucially, Para 055 of the revised PPG states; “Both the 5 year housing land supply and the 4 year housing land supply that authorities should demonstrate for decision making should consist of deliverable housing sites demonstrated against the authority’s five year housing land supply requirement, including the appropriate buffer.”
Para 056 of the revised PPG also states; “Where the criteria under paragraph 226 are met, an authority will need to demonstrate a 4 year housing land supply with a 20% buffer, if appropriate, against their five year housing land supply requirement” (my underlining).
The PPG needed to be updated in order to bring it in line with the revised NPPF and avoid confusion between these two government planning documents.
Director, Brett Spiller welcomed the clarification ‘following the publication of the revised NPPF last year, there has been uncertainty and differing interpretations regarding how the 5 year land supply test is applied, when Local Plan documents are in the various stages of production and adoption – this now clarifies the issue’.
