Birmingham Development Plan approved despite 38,000-home shortfall

In a report issued last week (56-page / 385 KB PDF), examining inspector Roger Clews agreed with the Council that there was an objectively-assessed need for around 89,000 new homes in the area by 2031 and that only around 51,800 of these homes could be built within the city's boundaries.

Clews was satisfied that the BDP could be found sound without setting out exactly where the 38,000-home shortfall would be met. The inspector recommended a modification to the Birmingham Development Plan (BDP) clarifying that the Council would continue to work actively with neighbouring local planning authorities (LPAs) to ensure that the shortfall would be met within the Greater Birmingham housing market area.

The inspector noted that seven neighbouring LPAs had already committed "to a review of their adopted and emerging local plans, should this be necessary to address Birmingham's shortfall". Clews said delaying the adoption of the BDP would be inconsistent with the emphasis in the National Planning Policy Framework on the need to have up-to-date plans in place and would delay the release of land from the green belt to allow for a 6,000-home sustainable urban extension (SUE) at Langley, to the east of Sutton Coldfield.

The development strategy in the BDP includes the alteration of Birmingham's green belt boundaries to allow for the development of the Langley SUE, a 350-home development at a former sewage works in Yardley and a strategic employment site at Peddimore. Clews was satisfied that the 'exceptional circumstances' necessary to justify the proposed changes to the green belt boundaries existed. He said the "exceptional" scale of Birmingham's potentially unmet housing need; the city's lack of previously developed sites suitable for high-quality employment development; and the particular contributions the allocated sites would make to meeting the city's needs all contributed to his finding.

In an interim report issued in January 2015, Clews had asked the Council to provide further justification for choosing the Langley and Peddimore sites for development. The inspector's final report said further work on the Council's sustainability appraisal had "repaired the deficiencies" he had previously identified.

Clews said the Council's evidence provided a rational basis for its decision to release land from the green belt for development, for developing one SUE of around 5,000 homes and for selecting Langley over alternatives. He accepted that the Council's appraisal, which was "not challenged by substantial evidence" favoured Peddimore as a strategic employment site, but recommended a modification reducing its developable area from 80 hectares to 71 ha and controlling the building heights on the edges. The inspector said these changes would reduce the landscape impacts of the employment site.

Planning expert Lucy Close of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said: "The BDP is not the first local plan to be found sound where housing capacity is significantly below objectively assessed need. Whilst there are only isolated examples so far, co-operation across housing market areas is a concept which needs to be adopted more universally, if housing need is going to be met. One of the concerns with the situation in Birmingham is that the 14 authorities which fall within the relevant housing market area are all at different stages of the local plan process so it cannot be certain that the additional 38,000 houses required to meet Birmingham’s need will be met elsewhere. However, it could be argued that Birmingham setting out its stall is a positive step in that this now means that the other authorities know what they need to work towards to address the housing shortfall."

"In terms of how the authorities in the Greater Birmingham housing market area will attempt to meet the shortfall, it is likely that much attention will turn to potential green belt releases," said Close. "Inspector Roger Clews has permitted the release of some of Birmingham’s green belt but has made clear that there should be no further release than that already stated."

"Many of the authorities surrounding Birmingham are washed over with significant swathes of green belt and release is always a contentious issue. All eyes will therefore be on how the relevant authorities propose to meet the housing need and which ones will propose release of the green belt. It is likely that we will see authorities arguing over the coming months and years as to whose green belt is more worthy of protection, particularly as Birmingham will not be making further releases," said Close.

The Council said that it expected the plan to be adopted at a full council meeting in July.