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East Herts housing development opportunities

East Herts does not currently have a 5-year housing land supply. In fact, it can currently only demonstrate a 3.4 year supply of sites.  Couple this with the fact that the Council also has an out of date local plan that is not compliant with the NPPF and all signs are indicating the desperate need for the Council to significantly increase the supply of housing sites across the District.

The Council published its preferred options East Herts District Plan in January 2014, which sets out how they intend to increase the housing supply, with allocations at Bishops Stortford, Hertford, Ware, Buntingford, Sawbridgeworth and north of Harlow. They have also indicated that the Group 1 villages of Walkern, High Cross, Standon and Puckeridge, Hadham Ford, Little Hadham, Much Hadham, Widford, Hunsdon and Braughing can expect to be significantly expanded.

However, the Council still has a lot of work to do before this document becomes adopted planning policy and the development strategy is likely to be subject to further changes.  As the Council has an out of date local plan and cannot demonstrate a 5-year supply of housing sites, for the foreseeable future the Council will be in a planning policy void whereby planning applications will be considered against the presumption in favour of sustainable development, as set out in the NPPF. In light of such a planning policy position, this situation provides an excellent opportunity for landowners and developers to promote and submit speculative planning applications within the main towns and main villages of East Herts.

Plainview Planning are actively sourcing potential development sites in the East Herts area.  We regularly promote land as potential strategic development sites and submit planning applications on behalf of landowners and developers. We offer a variety of services and packages; from standard planning consultancy arrangements to promotion agreements where we would take on some of the initial risk. If you feel that you may have land suitable for housing development in East Herts and would like expert advice on the best way to seek a favourable planning outcome, please contact us at info@plainview.co.uk to discuss ways in which we could assist.