Scottish Government proposes 'root and branch review' of planning system

Setting out the Scottish Government's priorities ahead of the 2016 elections, Nicola Sturgeon said that the planned review would identify opportunities for further reform to ensure that the system "realises its full potential". She also announced an investment of £195 million in a successor to the Help to Buy (Scotland) scheme, which she said would help at least 6,500 households to purchase a new home.

Planning law expert Gary McGovern of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said that although Sturgeon's published 'programme for government' document did not contain substantive details of the review, the "language and tone" used by the first minister in her speech appeared to be "significant".

"Since 2009, if not before, the focus of the Scottish Government has been very much on bedding in the previous reforms introduced by the 2006 Planning Act," he said. "While it has sought to streamline the system it has consistently ruled out new primary planning legislation or a 'major overhaul' of planning rules in order to achieve that aim. The first minister's description of a 'root and branch review' would seem to signal a step-change and to open up a wider range of possibilities."

He said "If meaningful gains are to be made the Scottish Government may need to take some fairly radical steps towards facilitating development – there should be no sacred cows which are beyond examination as part of this review. At the same time, there will need to be clearly defined objectives to ensure a focus to any package of reforms".

The Scottish Government regards the planning system as a "key route" through which it can "help businesses to invest and grow", according to the 'programme for government' document. Both the Scottish Planning Policy (SPP), which was last updated in June 2014, and the third National Planning Framework (NPF3), require planning policies and decisions to give "due weight to the net economic benefit of development" along with other aspects of sustainable development.

In a report published last year, industry body the Scottish Housing Commission recommended that the amount of development land going through the Scottish planning system should be doubled as part of a package of measures to increase housing supply. The 'programme for government' acknowledges the need for "more quality housing across all tenures", backed by a streamlined, simplified planning process with "unnecessary blockages in the decision-making process" removed.

McGovern said that it was right for the document to focus on housing supply as "need continues to fall far short of demand".

"The 'plan-led' system is not functioning as intended," he said. "The preparation and adoption of development plans is still taking too long and, in certain cases, is seen as an end in itself; too many plans remain out of date; and, where development plans are under development or in place, legitimate questions can often arise over whether the housing allocation is both sufficient in numbers and located in viable areas."

"New housing also means new services and infrastructure, such as schools and roads, with inevitable questions over who provides and pays for such infrastructure and when. Ultimately, in many cases, converting a zoned site to a consented site is taking far too long and issues of process and resource require to be carefully examined," he said.

In a speech accompanying the 'programme for government' publication, Sturgeon said that the Scottish Government was set to exceed its target to provide 30,000 affordable homes by the end of the current parliament. By the end of March 2015, a total of 26,972 such homes had been delivered, according to the latest figures.

The successor to the Help to Buy (Scotland) scheme will also focus on affordable homes, with eligible buyers receiving an equity loan towards the purchase price of a new-build home, according to the publication. Full details will be announced following the UK government's spending review in November. There will also be ongoing support for small developers, building on the success of the Small Developers Scheme, and a three-year extension to Scotland's five 'Enterprise Areas', which will continue to offer streamlined planning applications.