So long 2024 – what a year of change you proved to be. Out with the Conservative Party, in with Labour, a new National Planning Policy Framework, the launch of Biodiversity Net Gain, the introduction of the Grey Belt to name but a few of the planning shifts, changes and challenges we are all adapting to as 2025 opens its doors.
For the team at Plainview Planning, 2024 was a time of transformation even closer to home, as we were acquired by McLoughlin Planning. 7 months into the acquisition and it has been an exhilarating period of team building, cross pollination of ideas and projects and we are excited for all that 2025 has to offer as we seek to enhance our two brands of planning.
Plainview will continue to provide support to householders, independent businesses, rural clients, and small developers in a variety of locations, with a particular focus on urban areas. Meanwhile McLoughlin Planning will focus much more on its strategic land work, supporting landowners, larger SME house builders and beyond as well as providing specialist consultancy advice to the sporting and education institutions, and the aviation sector.
To be able to offer teams dedicated to such a wide range of planning sectors and to acknowledge the crucial difference between supporting individual customers, and commercial enterprises with their planning needs is an exciting position to be in as we launch forth into 2025.
Project highlights from 2024 – being the trusted planning consultancy for individual developers
Three key areas have really stood out for our team this year. The first is that we have seen our relationships with small housebuilders continue to grow and we are delighted that we remain the trusted planning consultant for several individual developers in London, Essex and the South West, helping them to realise their project aspirations and the potential of their housing portfolios. Our working relationship with a number of these clients has gone from strength to strength over the past decade and its longevity is testament to our client care and the quality of planning guidance, strategy, and action that we provide. We look forward to continuing this trend in 2025.
Project highlights from 2024 – supporting the rural sector with their planning needs
Our resident rural planning expert Sam Eachus has helped numerous farmers and landowners with development strategies and farm diversification projects over the past 12 months. Project highlights from 2024 include:
- Securing planning consent for a permanent rural worker dwelling, having been involved with the site since 2017. The local council had concerns over viability, but these were successfully overcome – Wiltshire.
- A successful LDC on a complex case involving an agricultural building. Permission had been granted for a building, but it was built partly outside of the red line. The Council tried to argue a 10-year breach of condition, however through a comprehensive analysis of case law, we were able to convince the Council’s legal team that the development was in fact a breach of development under the 4-year rule – Wychavon.
- Planning consent for the removal of an agricultural occupancy condition. This was a lengthy process, exacerbated by a lack of policy on occupancy conditions. Following a careful marketing strategy, we managed the prep and submission of a successful application to remove the condition. We also prepared a detailed report setting out all the agricultural considerations and prepared a marketing report that detailed the marketing process and interest received – South Oxfordshire.
- Successfully made the case that a shepherd hut in a garden does not require planning permission where it is used for incidental purposes. Not to be confused with permitted development. Case law and precedents were required. What seemed like a minor application was actually very complex – Uttlesford.
And looking ahead, our rural planning team have several appeal hearings lined up for 2025. These include an agricultural building in Stoud, and the removal of a condition imposing unfair restrictions on a farm. We will keep you updated on the outcomes of these, as our experienced team continue to add value to the planning appeal process for our clients.
Project highlights 2024 – our Essex office goes from strength to strength
Our Chelmsford office continues to go from strength to strength, ably headed up by Marcia Perkins whose local knowledge is second to none. Increasingly clients are contacting us to aid them in building a team of subject matter experts, from Ecologists to Transport, Contamination, Heritage and Noise consultants and our project management skills to both build and work efficiently with each of these disciplines are what sets us apart from many of our competitors, with one of our most recent clients citing that we go ‘above and beyond.’
The new NPPF and a look at grey belt – what does it mean for development in 2025?
As for analysis of the current policy position, in order to look ahead, you need to briefly look back. 2024 was all about us grappling with the NPPF amendments, introduced in December 2023 by the then Conservative government. These introduced housing need figures as an advisory starting point rather than a mandatory requirement and the potential for only a 4-year supply needing to be demonstrated for a local plan to remain up to date and applicable to the determination of planning applications for housing (where draft local plans were prepared and progressing through the adoption process). It provided an incentive for Local Planning Authorities to keep local plans up to date to avoid the application of the NPPF test of the presumption in favour of sustainable development.
Less than a year later, a revised NPPF dropped (12th December 2024) following the change in government. What might these changes mean for your site or development in 2025? Our Planning Director, Catherine Hoyte shares her thoughts below:
“I feel that key to the agenda of this government is to drive housebuilding and economic growth with the necessary infrastructure to support that growth. It reverses the ‘advisory’ status of housing need figures (and the concept of 4-year HLS) and in fact changes the method for calculating housing need meaning that many LPAs now need to supply more homes than they have currently planned for in their Local Plan. For many, this also means that they are now no longer able to demonstrate that they have a 5-year supply of housing land, leaving their policy most relevant to the supply of homes ‘out of date’.”
“It also introduces the concept of the grey belt, which could release more land, it will be fascinating to see how inspectors apply the various new provisions over the coming year.”
Whilst some may be concerned this will lead to unplanned large-scale development without the necessary supporting infrastructure, it is also a huge positive for smaller developers and private landowners, whose schemes can often better deliver organic growth across the country as a whole, in a sustainable way. At Plainview Planning we are all about aiding the delivery of sustainable development and working with our clients to deliver schemes that are a legacy to be proud of in the built environment.
If you are considering a project in 2025, now is the time to act. Although the 5-year housing land supply position is highly nuanced (it depends for example, on the age and status of each Local Plan and historic Housing Delivery) we can advise whether these changes could benefit your proposal based on its location and the specific circumstances within that local authority area.
How our planning consultants can help with your development aims in 2025
Whether you are converting a barn, exploring self-build options, or planning a larger development, the changes to the NPPF could make your application process faster and more achievable. Contact us today for expert guidance on leveraging these updates to maximise your chances of planning success.
Thanks to all our clients and contractors for their continued support and to McLoughlin Planning for welcoming us so wholeheartedly into the fold. Onwards, upwards and we look forward to providing clients old and new with our special brand of innovative, informed and effective planning support as we move into new year.
About us
As ever, this article is correct at the time of publication. However, for the most up to date information, contact the team on the details below.
We are Plainview Planning, now part of McLoughlin Planning – a solutions orientated, experienced and knowledgeable team of planning consultants. If you need professional and informed planning support with your development project, then contact our team via enquiries@plainview.co.uk, or call us on 01242 501003, providing the site address and a brief overview of your project. We look forward to helping you.
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