Planning Blight

Robert Neill Excerpts

Monday 24th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Robert Neill)]

May I congratulate the hon. Member for Mitcham and Morden (Siobhain McDonagh) on securing this debate? I am grateful for the chance to set out the Government’s position on “Planning blight and large property owners”, which is the title on the Order Paper.

First, before going into more detail, it is as well to set out the background and to distinguish between planning blight, a term of art describing a form of statutory blight under part 6, chapter 2 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, and the kind of blight that occurs where buildings and sites are left vacant and unmaintained, adversely affecting the environmental quality of an area. It is the latter issue with which we are largely concerned this evening.

The hon. Lady mentioned planning permissions and it is worth bearing in mind that such permissions are normally granted for a period of three years from the date of decision, although this can be increased or decreased at the discretion of local authorities. In determining whether to permit a longer period, local authorities may wish to consider the economic circumstances and the ability of a developer to deliver the development. The Government consider that three years is a fair period to give the developer time to secure the necessary finance and to make arrangements to get on site and proceed with the development. It strikes the right balance between the commercial pressures that developers face and the need of the community to ensure that the development that they are promised materialises.

If developers are unable to proceed within the time period specified by the local planning authority, in certain circumstances they are able to apply for a replacement planning permission. That procedure was introduced in 2009 and its scope was expanded in October last year. A replacement planning permission is similar to a new planning permission but has less arduous consultation and information requirements, because principle and design have already been agreed. Local authorities have a lot of discretion over that procedure and how it applies in individual cases.

If a developer is unable to proceed with work on site, they face the prospect of the cost and uncertainty of having to apply for a new or replacement planning permission. That in itself is a major incentive for developers to get on site and start work within the allotted period. Sometimes, however, even with the best of intentions, things can go wrong for developers. Economic circumstances change, developers get into financial difficulties and projects can get stalled. It is important that the Government do what we can to remove bureaucratic barriers and support developers in delivering the housing and commercial developments that this country desperately needs.

We recognise, however, that there can also be circumstances in which landowners are not interested in progressing developments at all. They might simply try to make a profit on a site by waiting for it to increase in value, and might have no interest at all in what the site looks like in the intervening period. I think that that is the root of the hon. Lady’s concern.

Where sites fall into disrepair, there can be a detrimental effect on local communities. As the hon. Lady rightly says, unused buildings can become a haven for drug users and other undesirable elements. The risk of falling masonry can pose a danger to passers-by, and general degradation of the environment can result. Where a building is dangerous and a threat to the local area, it is worth bearing in mind the provision for local authorities to serve a notice on the building owner to carry out works to remove that danger or demolish the building, under sections 77 and 78 of the Building Act 1984. I do not know whether that is appropriate in the case to which the hon. Lady refers, but the power is available generally to local authorities.

The Government take such degradation of buildings very seriously, and our first priority is to prevent such situations from happening in the first place. The Government have worked hard to prevent developers from building up banks of land, by making sure that they are required to start work on site within a timely period from the granting of planning permission. Where the state of the site has led to the quality of the environment being adversely affected, however, local authorities have a number of remedies available to them. The hon. Lady referred to the provisions under section 215 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, under which a local authority can, in certain circumstances, take steps to make good the loss of public amenity. If it appears that the amenity or part of the amenity of an area is being adversely affected by the condition of neighbouring land and buildings, the authority can serve a notice on the owner requiring that the situation be remedied. Such notices set out the steps that need to be taken, and the time within which they must be carried out.

The use of section 215 notices by local planning authorities is discretionary. It is up to the local planning authority to decide whether a notice under those provisions would be appropriate. The hon. Lady says correctly that at least one extant notice is still in operation in relation to the site to which she refers. For that reason, the House will understand why it is not appropriate for me to comment further on the case.

Other remedies are also available to local authorities when development has already begun and has stalled for one reason or another. For example, a local planning authority can—with the agreement of the Secretary of State—issue a completion notice, which will terminate a planning permission at the end of a specified period if the development is not completed. If it is not completed within the specified time limit, there will be no planning permission for the remainder of the development. Local authorities can take enforcement action once the completion notice comes into effect if the development is resumed at a later date.

A key driver of the localism agenda is giving communities a stake in the future of their areas, and enabling them to achieve real change. We are giving communities the ability and the incentive to plan positively for their futures, and to safeguard the things that matter to them. The measures announced in our Localism Bill should ensure that the desires and intentions that people express in regard to their local environment through the planning system result in real change on the ground, and that developments are delivered in a timely manner to the benefit of all concerned.

I know the hon. Lady will understand that we must strike a balance between the need to support developers in the challenging economic circumstances that we have inherited and the need to ensure that local communities have sufficient power and resources to protect themselves from the loss of amenity that comes with boarded-up and vacant sites. As I have said, discretionary powers exist to help local authorities to achieve that, and ultimately it is for the community to work with them to ensure that the problems associated with vacant buildings are dealt with in a fair, proportionate and responsible way.

[Siobhain McDonagh]

The Minister’s use of the word “proportionate” suggests that we are discussing parties with equal power, but I hope that I have conveyed our feeling of powerlessness in the face of a large and wealthy organisation that is willing to go to law and has access to expert legal advice. Residents do not have that capacity, and local authorities are often frightened to engage with those who are very litigious.

[Robert Neill]

The hon. Lady will appreciate that planning policy relates essentially to land use. We cannot have a system that is determined by the economic capacity of the parties as such. What is important is that the local authority, in particular, has powers. While I realise that the scope of individual community groups may be limited, I understand that the London borough of Merton has taken powers in serving section 215 notices in relation to this case, so it has a remedy.

We propose to give local communities much more control over developments of this kind in the first place through our changes to the planning system and, in particular, our concept of neighbourhood planning. I suspect that had neighbourhood plans been established in Colliers Wood, a different view of such developments might well have been taken. The fact is, however, that this is an existing development with an extant permission, and the local authority must deal with the situation with which it is currently confronted.

[Siobhain McDonagh]

The point is, surely, that if a company has funds that enable it to invest in property and to do nothing with the planning applications that it receives other than sit and wait for the property price to rise, the planning process does not help. What local authorities need are greater powers of enforcement, and greater powers to require developers to be good neighbours.

[Robert Neill]

A number of steps have been taken in that regard. Until 2004, developers could extend the life of planning permissions by varying time limit conditions attached to existing planning consents. Because of concerns about land banking, the last Government amended section 73 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 in the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 to prevent it from being used to vary such conditions. I have no issue with that. Those sort of steps were taken, and we also have to bear in mind that concern was expressed that action should be proportionate.

In addition, steps have been taken to examine the default length of planning permissions. As I say, the default length is three years, but local authorities have discretion under section 91 of the 1990 Act to grant permission for another period, having regard to the provisions of the development plan and other material considerations. The Department has previously issued letters to the chief planning officers reminding them of their discretion in this regard. Precisely because this issue is discretionary for the local authority it would be wrong for them or certainly for a Minister to try to fetter that. We can simply put in place the tools for them to use, if appropriate, and remind them if they are available. I do not know what consideration Merton council gave to those matters, but it is clear that it did take steps in relation to the section 215 notices in this case.

I understand the hon. Lady’s frustration. It may well be that when the Government consult in due course on the changes that we are making to the planning framework with our national planning priorities framework, both her local council and others who are concerned about this matter will wish to make representations as to what further can be done. One has to bear in mind that because proprietary interests are affected, whatever the rights and wrongs of the issue, any action has to be taken in a manner capable of being sustained, because it has to be justiciable. Therefore, the authority has to act in a quasi-judicial fashion and the Department has to make sure that any advice it gives in any legal framework that it sets in place is consistent with our legal obligation to fairness on both sides.

It is always difficult in a debate such as this to deal with individual cases, particularly while there are existing proceedings. These have the potential to result in court proceedings, because a fine can be imposed if they are not complied with. Although it is not possible to be more specific about particular cases, I can assure the hon. Lady that the Government are alert to these issues and are, of course, always looking to see whether there are sensible means of keeping these rules up to date. I hope that the pressure being applied and the good work that is clearly being done by people in Colliers Wood and the neighbourhood action group, together with their councillors, will have an effect on the owners of the building. Equally, I am sure that she will understand why it is not appropriate for me to say more than I already have about the particular circumstances of a case where, in effect, enforcement-type proceedings— section 215 proceedings—are ongoing.

Question put and agreed to.