Local Plans Expert Group says housing policies should be considered out of date where not produced or reviewed in time

In its report to the government (56-page / 2.9 MB PDF), the expert panel said the same consequences should apply to councils that fail to produce a post-NPPF local plan by the end of March 2018 or do not undertake early review of their local plan by the deadline recommended by an examining inspector.

The report recommended that the practice by which historic local plan policies can be given weight beyond their expiry date should be abandoned and that any council without a local plan submitted by the end of March 2017 should be considered for "special measures".

The group said the production and maintenance of an up-to-date local plan should be made a statutory duty of local authorities. It recommended the introduction of a strict two-year maximum time limit for the plan preparation process and suggested updated guidance on what a local plan should contain.

Changes to the National Planning Practice Guidance were recommended, to provide a common methodology for preparing strategic housing market assessments and a standard template for calculating a council's five year housing supply. The report said the NPPF should be changed to require councils to identify reserve development sites equivalent to 20% of the housing need in their local plans and to put in place mechanisms to release reserve sites should less than a five year supply be available.

The group also recommended changes to the NPPF explaining more fully what is expected under the duty for neighbouring councils to co-operate on cross-border planning issues. It said national policy should make clear that joint working should result in an agreement on how housing needs will be met and that councils not planning to meet their own housing needs must explain how they will be met elsewhere.

Planning expert Elizabeth Wiseman of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said: "It is clear from the report that the Expert Group can see the value of the government’s plan to intervene and arrange for local plans to be written in consultation with the local community where an authority has not produced a local plan by early 2017. However, their view is that the government can go further to incentivise authorities to ensure they have in place an up to date local plan. It will be interesting to see whether the government choose to implement any of the recommendations in the report and the effect this has on plan preparation. Any positive effect will be welcome news for developers and planning applicants in general."

In last week's 2016 Budget (153-page / 2.9 MB PDF), the government welcomed the group's report and pledged to "look at the scope to reduce the weight of outdated plans in decision-making".

The government invited representations on the report by email to [email protected] or via a dedicated survey at https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/WRN6HHV. Representations will be accepted until 27 April.