5
Who is involved
Making the planning process work well depends on getting the most from the people involved and using their skills to help them work effectively together. People can have very different intentions and expectations, and it helps to understand what these are, in order to seek out common ground and resolve the inevitable conflicts.
Landholders, Homebuilders and Institutions
The landowner can be an individual, a company, a bank, a pension fund, the local authority or another institution. The land might have been inherited, or bought as a home or an investment, and the nature of the landowner’s interest can have an impact on the quality of development. The landowner may have a short-term, speculative interest or a long-term perspective; they may be interested only in value uplift from any planning permissions, or in the quality of the place for future generations.
The primary obligation of any landowner, developer or homebuilder is likely to be the owners or company’s shareholders who, unless they have a personal connection or philanthropic intentions, will be interested in profitability and value. In many cases those who monitor the performance of the company or institution will want to see development delivering a return as swiftly as possible, although long-term reputation, market position and relationships to support future projects will also often be important.
Institutional landowners
Large areas of land might be owned by longstanding estates such as the Crown Estate, the Portman Estate, the Grosvenor Estate, the Howard de Walden Estate, the Church Commissioners and the Peabody Trust, who hold and manage property for the long term. Dependant on rental income and capital value, they have an interest in maintaining the quality and value of their estates. New types of owner who wish to build and rent properties are now coming forward, and they may also have an interest in the quality and long-term success of a development.
Landowners can be developers and builders, and they often depend on accessing finance from banks or other investors to develop the land. They might have experience in how the system works, and they can be skilled negotiators, taking financial risks on which they expect to receive a return. If they are borrowing money and paying interest, the sooner the development is sold or rented, the better – even if the development is not as high quality or as lucrative as they might have hoped. Borrowing costs and tied-up capital will reduce profit margins if a project stalls.
Homebuilder landowners
Homebuilders buy and sell land as well as developing it, with some holding land banks (parcels of land held for future sale or development) to influence supply and demand. Most homebuilders are sometimes seen as developing at a minimum rate to maintain prices, knowing that too many homes coming on to the market in a particular location at one time could lower the purchase price.
Some homebuilders consider that offering many variations in the design of their homes could confuse potential buyers and make them less likely to buy. This, among other reasons, leads them to use standard designs and layouts, and such an approach can reduce design and construction costs, and save time. This is reflected in the price to some extent, but the market and availability of debt funding (mortgages) also determines the price of a home. Homebuilders taking risks in buying land can be the biggest element influencing the eventual sale price. Some homebuilders create high-quality homes and neighbourhoods, others do not.
Figure 5.1
Planning can be a creative process.
Smaller homebuilders and developers, including self-builders operating in a local market, can introduce innovation and deliver high quality, although again some may not. Those who specialise in smaller sites can have as much expertise and experience as large-volume homebuilders.
As homebuilders recognise the importance of design quality, making schemes valuable and contributing locally, the design approach of some larger homebuilders has improved significantly. Some, but not all, introduce impressive, innovative schemes that create successful places.
Housing associations
Housing associations are a particular type of developer. As long-term investors in housing stock and with a social mission to build neighbourhoods to support resilient communities, it is in their interest to commit to high standards of design and construction, and ensure low maintenance and management costs, whether they are developing themselves or purchasing from homebuilders.
Agents, Consultants and Other professionals
Landowners are likely to be advised by a multitude of agents, consultants and professionals. These will have experience about the type and amount of development that any local market might support.
The planning and design process involves many professions, such as surveyors, lawyers, environmental specialists, planning consultants, architects, landscape architects, urban and street planners, viability experts and many more. In some cases a landowner or developer will seek to improve a development’s profitability by minimising the input of professionals, and reducing the costs of appraisals and revisions.
Financial Issues
Planning obligations and payments made to the local authority associated with development (such as Section 106 agreements or community infrastructure levy) will affect the costs of any development. If these wider planning obligations are expected before the land is sold, they are likely to result in the landowner receiving a lower price for the land. If the developer has already bought the land, the developer will have to either absorb these obligations or, through evidence from a viability appraisal, apply to reduce them.
Figure 5.2
The planning and design process involves different types of expertise, for example those skilled in getting local communities involved.
Anything that could potentially delay the process, or require more professional input, will affect profit margins and may in turn require more to be built on the site, so changing the design. However, a renegotiation of any Section 106 contributions or other changes could make the scheme viable. Planners should bear this in mind when discussing design requirements and modifications.
Specialist Advice
Various professionals have different perspectives on what they hope to achieve through the planning and design process. They might be concerned with, for example, economic viability, traffic volumes and speed, design quality or environmental standards – focusing on their particular area of expertise, working for either the developer or homebuilder, or employed or engaged by the local authority to give specialist advice.
This specialist view might not be the same as their client’s, although they will be trying to act in their client’s interests. In some cases a professional might present a scheme that they have drawn up under the client’s direction to test development scenarios. The professional will welcome the local authority planner’s collaboration, and may be keen to modify certain aspects of the scheme. A flexible approach to the aspects that most affect design will often result in a better relationship with the applicant’s team, and better design solutions.
Working Collaboratively
Often the professionals in the developer’s team will have been given a brief that is based on density, floor area or unit numbers. The land deal, setting perceptions of what is achievable, might already have been completed. Good professionals will analyse the brief and advise on what can be achieved on that particular site.
Figure 5.3
Working collaboratively and using local and professional expertise should produce a better plan.
The developer might have a large team with a number of different professionals. They might be well led and communicate well with one another, or they might be working largely in isolation, without anyone having an overall view of what the development could achieve. This is where the planner’s expertise, skills and knowledge are needed.
Influencing the developer team
Where appropriate, planners can influence how the developer or promoter uses their professional teams, and can even suggest that the team is not up to the job, although great care is needed in such a situation. In some cases the planners might be able to suggest that other members are added to the team to provide specific expertise, such as an artist, drainage engineer or landscape designer. A heritage expert might be needed for development in a conservation area; a townscape expert where a tall buildings policy is involved; an engineer if the development has a basement; or a landscape appraisal expert where there is a site of special scientific interest, an area of outstanding natural beauty or a designated landscape. Some teams will include community engagement specialists and, increasingly, political lobbyists to ease the scheme through the local political process.
All these people will have a job to do, or a corner to fight or defend, and these might not be compatible with each other or with the local authority. Which of them is more important will depend on, among other things, how the local authority is organised and how it sets its priorities. For example, the developer is likely to give priority to their highways consultant if the local authority has a reputation for a rigorous approach to highways and transport planning.
Contractors
Contractors have a significant influence on the quality of a development. Often the planning and development process produces a scheme which, for various reasons, does not get built as envisaged when it received planning permission. Contractual arrangements are an important factor in this. For example, design-and-build is an arrangement whereby a single contractor designs and builds a development, rather than a contractor building it to the design of an independent architect. Design-and-build sometimes produces buildings that are relatively cheap and easy to build, using the methods with which the builder is most familiar, but standards of design and detailing can often be compromised.
Figure 5.4
Workshops and other events can help a range of people get involved, from young people to pensioners to professionals and local businesses.
Discussions and negotiations on Section 106 agreements can be an opportunity to insist on the developer continuing to use the services of the original architect or design team. This can avoid the quality of the scheme being lost at a later stage due to cost-cutting measures. Material specifications and detailed drawings can also be linked to the planning permission to protect the quality of the scheme.
Communities
People who live and work in a place, or otherwise use it, will have an interest in its development. Usually benefiting from a rich mix of communities of interest (some overlapping), these interests can be held in common or can conflict. There may be conflicts between the short-, medium- and long-term interests, or indeed the interests of future generations and users of a development who are not represented. The art of planning lies in working out how development can contribute to the greater good by promoting common interests, and reconciling conflicts both for existing communities and future generations. That process involves a mix of technical and political aspects.
Neighbourhood planning was introduced to enable local communities to take part in the planning and development of their area. If people feel that the area could accommodate additional development over and above that which is set out in the council’s plan, or that the planned development should be provided in a particular way, the community may decide to set up a neighbourhood forum and produce a neighbourhood development plan. Local authorities require the resources to encourage neighbourhood planning and actively support and enable participation.
What the NPPF Says
‘Planning should … be genuinely plan-led, empowering local people to shape their surroundings, with succinct local and neighbourhood plans setting out a positive vision for the future of the area.’ Planning should be ‘a creative exercise in finding ways to enhance and improve the places in which people live their lives … taking into account the needs of the residential and business communities’ and it should ‘always seek to secure high-quality design and a good standard of amenity for all existing and future occupants of land and buildings.’ (Paragraph 17)
Figure 5.5
Councillors can take a leading role in improving their area and communicating ideas to others.
Politicians
Politicians should represent both existing and future community interests. As local politicians, councillors may get involved with planning issues where they affect their ward, if they are cabinet members with responsibility for planning or if they serve on a planning committee. It is an important and sometimes difficult role to play, balancing the interests of individual constituents, the wider social needs of the local community, and the broader requirements of business, the local economy and the environment.
Each authority has an adopted local code of conduct that sets out rules governing councillors in their decision-making role. This local code will recognise councillors’ important role as place-shapers, enabling them to take part in pre-application discussions on behalf of their communities, as well as engaging in spatial planning and policy formation.
In their decision-making role, councillors must judge the needs of the present generation and ensure that the requirements of future generations are taken into account. While councillors will be advised on probity and avoiding bias and predetermination in their decision-making, it is useful for planners to remember that councillors, like planners, require training in their role as place-shapers, and information to help them make informed, balanced judgments in the light of the current policy framework.