Lichfields UK

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Read Max Kidd-Rossiter's latest blog here: https://lnkd.in/dhDTBF2G The Mead/Redrow High Court Judgment handed down in February 2024 presented uncertainty over whether or not a Sequential Test needs to be applied. The judgment held that the Planning Practice Guidance (‘PPG’) has the same legal status as the National Planning Policy Framework (‘NPPF’). This means that, as detailed in the PPG, the sequential test should take account of all sources of flood risk, including surface water flood risk, and not just fluvial flood risk. It also means that, even if a site-specific flood risk assessment (‘FRA’) concludes that mitigation measures or existing flood defences result in a low risk of flooding, the sequential test would still need to be satisfied. Following the judgment, it has been broadly accepted that planning applications should satisfy the sequential test if any part of the site is at risk of flooding from any source, unless one of the PPG exemptions apply. This gave rise to the obvious solution to avoid the sequential test by amending red-line boundary to omit areas at risk from flooding. However, the new NPPF contains a mechanism by which it will be possible to avoid application of the sequential test even if part of the site is at risk from flooding.

Variety is the spice in of life, so the saying goes. That is certainly true for our Lichfields UK Townscape and Visual projects. We’ve had the privilege of working on a wide range of interesting projects over the last 12 months. A selection of those that were approved in 2024 are in our 2024 Townscape and Visual Highlights. Looking forward to what 2025 has to offer! If you have any questions about our Townscape and Visual Assessment services please do get in touch. Assael Architecture, Corstorphine & Wright, David Chipperfield Architects, Dowen Farmer Architects, Rolfe Judd Architecture, Broadway Malyan, Allies and Morrison, Simon Camp

A new Government, a new direction – in this case, a new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and a significant U-turn in policy away from the provisions related to Housing Land Supply (HLS) compared to the December 2023 version: Paragraph 76 I hardly knew thee. View Harry Bennett's full blog: https://lnkd.in/gKUv2mvd

Sending seasons greetings to all our staff and clients at this festive time of year.

Lichfields provides planning and economics consultancy support to McDonald's in their delivery of new restaurants across England, Scotland and Wales. Our role for McDonald’s is to take a lead throughout the planning process, from initial site appraisal and due diligence through to the preparation and management of planning applications, and through into the delivery / development phase, where we lead on scheme amendments, discharge of conditions and advertisement consent. We take a pro-active approach to the management of the entire planning process, maintaining a focus upon meeting McDonald’s operational requirements. To understand how we can support your development programme, please contact Jonathan Wallace and Ian Anderson.

Housing Delivery Test: Who is failing? https://lnkd.in/ew8EC7KW The recently-released 2023 Housing Delivery Test considers previous housing delivery in the three years between April 2020 and March 2023 against the total number of homes required over the same period (minus in this case four months in 2020/21 to account for the disruption caused by the pandemic). As our interactive map shows, the number of authorities ‘failing the test’ (i.e. being subject to some form of consequence) has risen over the last three years, from 29% of authorities in 2021 to 35% in 2023. This includes 9% of authorities now facing the application of a 20% buffer to the assessment of housing land supply – when taken alongside the revisions to the standard methodology, this will further increase the number of authorities that will now be subject to the presumption in favour of sustainable development. This is in the context of 20% of authorities being subject to the presumption in the 2023 HDT, an increase of 4 percentage points from 2021, and 1 percentage point from 2022.

Lichfields has launched its 'Reforms to the NPPF' web resource: https://lnkd.in/erqD7V5y This will be updated over the coming weeks to provide insight for regions across England as well as implications for various sectors and services across the development industry. Our initial analysis centres around the New Standard Method and the new mandatory housing targets. Bethan Haynes' blog looks at the changes to the New Standard Method and whether the Government will achieve its ambitious 1.5m target: https://lnkd.in/emktPT8u New mandatory housing targets: https://lnkd.in/e3DrmhX4 Subscribe for updates: https://lnkd.in/daCtBbXn

Read Rosie Williams blog- https://lnkd.in/gf2pbKWR which provides an overview of the Pilot UK Net Zero Carbon Building Standard and explores the key actions required to ensure it is successfully implemented.

With the 2025 Spending Review on the horizon, it is vital that ministers recognise that increased access to grant funding for sites in the North will be essential if it is to meet its ambition of seeing 1.5 million homes delivered during this Parliament. At present, too many sites across the North do not stack up financially. Due to comparatively low values and high costs, sites ideally located for new homes are left undeveloped. In response, alongside Cavendish and Place North West, Lichfields is participating in a campaign for a discretionary grant aid programme for the North of England to help deliver the homes we need. The campaign, launched today, seeks to ensure that the Northern property market has a unified voice to take this key housing delivery issue directly to Downing Street.