Publication

Section 2, paragraph 51 sets out the strategy within the plan for delivering additional housing above and beyond existing commitments. It also identifies a need to plan for changes in the types of homes to be delivered. Several factors are driving this increase in the need for more housing and paragraph 58 includes figures from the ORS Central Norfolk Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA) 2017 which identifies that the biggest demand for general market housing is for three bed homes followed by 4 bed homes. Paragraph 59 confirms that the plan seeks to address this need by developing the required number, tenures and types of homes to meet this demand. This proactive approach is welcomed and self-build/custom housing is believed to be one type of housing product which can assist the Council’s in meeting this objective.

Section 3, paragraph 137 confirms that new homes should be large enough to provide a good quality of life, with adaptable homes built to meet the varied and changing needs of our communities. It also states that many homes across Greater Norwich will be self and custom-built, further reinforcing the important contribution this type of housing will make. Paragraph 144 builds on this by reinforcing that the GNLP will meet housing need by providing choice and flexibility so that homes will be delivered on both allocated and windfall housing sites.

Section 5, Paragraph 282 importantly points out the requirements contained in the Self Build and Custom Housebuilding Act 2015 for Local authorities to keep a register of those seeking to acquire serviced plots in the area for their own self-build and custom-build housing and confirms that in 2018/19, there were 113 people on the registers in Greater Norwich. Since 2016, the Government has collected information from relevant local authorities in England on self-build and custom housebuilding activity in their areas. This data has been published and provides the figures reported by local authorities for the periods 2016, 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19. It confirms there were 484 entries entered onto the register in South Norfolk District for this period with only 323 planning permissions granted for suitable serviced plots in the same period. The Government published data paints a different picture of demand for these plots compared to the figures at paragraph 282 of this consultation document.

The updated PPG (Feb 2021) reinforces the importance of this type of housing, stating that “self-build or custom build helps to diversify the housing market and increase consumer choice.” National Planning Policy contained in the NPPF quite explicitly states at paragraph 61 that Local Planning Authorities should plan for the needs of people wishing to build their own homes. Furthermore, the Housing and Planning Act 2016 places a duty on Authorities to grant permission for sufficient serviced plots to meet demand evidenced by the register.

The comments in Section 5, paragraph 283 are acknowledged in that self and custom-build housing delivery is promoted through the GNLP on a range of sites. Policy 7.5 specifically promotes self and custom-build on smaller scale windfall sites and this is supported. This approach complements policies 5 and 7.4 and together provide the Council’s with the necessary policy tools to increase the supply of housing in urban and rural areas and provide opportunities for small and medium enterprises to build houses, as well as for self and custom-build. We would question the imposition of maximum numbers of homes that can be delivered on sites by this Policy. The focus should be on delivering the appropriate number of homes on a site specific basis in order to make the most effective and efficient use of land.