NPPF Consultation Response

The Thurrock Residential Developers’ Partnership (TRDP) welcomes the government's proposed updates to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), supporting their vision for sustainable development, housing growth, and economic expansion. This consultation response highlights the Partnership’s support for mandatory housing targets, streamlined planning processes, and the prioritisation of brownfield redevelopment, while emphasising the need for strategic land use, including sensible greenfield development, to address Thurrock’s pressing housing needs and stimulate local economic growth.

Our Response:

Background

The Thurrock Residential Developers’ Partnership (TRDP) is a collective group of housebuilders, residential developers and landowners. It was established in 2022 to elevate Thurrock as an enterprising location for jobs and homes. Our purpose is to promote the potential for significant economic growth, enhanced infrastructure and placemaking within the borough, facilitated and underpinned by the need to build new high quality, environmentally sustainable homes and communities.

Introduction

TRDP welcomes the government’s ambitious updates to The National Planning Policy Framework and how these will be applied. As well as the proposed framework within locally-prepared plans that aim to provide for sufficient housing and other development in a sustainable manner.

We share the government’s wider vision of growth and opportunity. We believe that there are exciting and significant growth opportunities across the country, and we are encouraged that the proposed framework might support local economies, including Thurrock, to reach their growth potential.

Mandatory housing targets

TRDP was encouraged that the government has reinstated mandatory local housing targets, aiming to deliver 370,000 new homes annually. This creates a robust and predictable demand for new developments, allowing developers to plan and invest with greater confidence.

However, it is important that plans should elevate the narrative beyond housing numbers, articulating a compelling vision that links substantial housing growth with its strategic potential for economic expansion and infrastructure investment. This vision should clearly demonstrate how increased housing translates into job creation, improved connectivity, and enhanced quality of life for residents, supporting local economies and boosting regional prosperity.

The government’s clear intention to prioritise house building will help to facilitate a more positive environment for the sector, potentially fostering collaborative opportunities and potential partnerships.

Thurrock faces a critical affordable housing shortage, with hundreds desperately waiting and homelessness rising. Sensible greenfield development holds the key, offering substantial affordable housing yield compared to urban areas. As costs escalate and pressures mount, releasing greenbelt land emerges as the urgent solution, mirroring successful approaches elsewhere. This bold step is vital to unlock vital housing and alleviate the growing crisis for Thurrock residents. The Partnership can significantly contribute to increasing affordable housing, which goes hand-in-hand with supporting economic growth, and the government’s proposed housing targets.

Promotion of brownfield and creation of grey belt

TRDP welcomes the prioritisation of the redevelopment of brownfield sites, which we believe will reduce competition for greenfield sites and often comes with fewer planning restrictions.

Similarly, new opportunities from the conversion of greenbelt to grey belt would help to open up more land in difficult rural locations where the housing need is high but councils have restricted development due to the existence of greenbelt. The shift towards Social Rent and the mandatory 50% affordable housing in grey belt developments present niches for developers focused on affordable and social housing sectors.

Nevertheless, developments on grey belt land could have more stringent requirements potentially impacting the profitability of development with the inclusion of added environmental protections or infrastructure requirements on new projects. The new policies, while clear in intention, may be implemented in ways that vary significantly across local authorities. This inconsistency can create uncertainty for developers, as it becomes difficult to predict how different areas will interpret and enforce these new rules. This could lead to unexpected costs and planning obstacles, including delays, that developers may find hard to anticipate. The removal of certain clauses like oversupply adjustments and specific incentives (e.g. bonus percentages for certain types of developments) could reduce the financial attractiveness of particular projects. This might deter developers from investing in areas where margins were already thin, potentially stalling development in less economically vibrant regions.

Streamlined planning processes

The Partnership is particularly encouraged by the government’s commitment to speed up and streamline the planning process to build more homes of all tenures and “accelerate the delivery of major infrastructure projects”. A clearer and more predictable planning framework can lead to quicker approval times and fewer bureaucratic hurdles. This efficiency reduces holding costs and accelerates project timelines, enhancing overall profitability. Additionally, implementing the proposed standard method for calculating local housing needs across all councils ensures consistency helping to reduce uncertainty over the long-term economic viability of schemes locally.

Nevertheless, despite some streamlining efforts, the increased focus on affordability, greenbelt reviews, and sustainability may complicate the planning process. The Partnership have some concerns that developers might face longer wait times for approvals, especially in areas with contentious local opposition or where greenbelt land is involved. This could lead to delays in project timelines, increasing holding costs and financial risk​.