How does the revised SPP 3 intersect with other guidance relating to building new houses?
How will the revised SPP 3 be affected by the streamlining of planning guidance?
What is the Scottish Government doing to assist with infrastructure funding?
Will the Scottish Government reconsider the national ambition to increase the rate of new house building to 35,000 a year by the middle of the next decade?
Are there plans to establish regional targets for housing supply?
What benefit will the housing need and demand assessment bring?
How will housing market partnerships function?
What role will local housing strategies have in the reformed housing and planning delivery framework?
What is the housing supply target?
Does the revised SPP 3 encourage a more positive approach to rural housing?
Does the policy on affordable housing developer contributions apply only to social housing?
How does the revised SPP 3 intersect with other guidance relating to building new houses?
The revised SPP3 is part of the reformed housing and planning delivery framework, and has been published alongside new guidance on housing need and demand assessment and revised guidance on local housing strategies.
How will the revised SPP 3 be affected by the streamlining of planning guidance?
The current SPP series will be streamlined into a single document. The revised SPP3 is a statement of Scottish Government policy, so its messages remain relevant. While it will require to be expressed in a more concise way, the main policy will be unchanged.
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What is the Scottish Government doing to assist with infrastructure funding?
The Scottish Government has postponed its review of developer contributions in light of the current economic situation in order not to place additional burdens on business at this time.
The Scottish Government has consultated on proposed revisions to Circular 12/1996: Planning Agreements.
The Scottish Government recognises that upfront provision of infrastructure remains a key concern in supporting vital economic development in the current circumstances. The First Minister announced in August 2008 that the Scottish Government would postpone the fundamental review of the role of developer contributions in order to avoid additional financial burdens on industry at a time of economic uncertainty. That uncertainty is still very much with us and we have moved in the meantime to ensure that the current system of planning agreements operates in as transparent and efficient a manner as possible. The consultation on the practical use of planning agreements will inform investigation in future of the options for funding infrastructure with representatives of the public and private sector.
The consultative draft places a strong emphasis on:
- achieving a more open and transparent process which provides opportunities for public involvement through the development planning process;
- the importance of effective management of the process of developing, negotiating and concluding agreements as part of the planning process;
- the role of the development plan in setting out a clear understanding of infrastructure requirements and from that policy on planning agreements;
- early identification of expected contributions from developers in Supplementary Guidance;
- clear presumption that planning agreements should be used only where they meet the policy tests set out in the circular;
- early and appropriate identification of key principles of agreements;
- swifter issuing of planning permission following finalisation of planning agreements; and
- the importance of monitoring to ensure that agreements are implemented.
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Will the Scottish Government reconsider the national ambition to increase the rate of new house building to 35,000 a year by the middle of the next decade?
We fully recognise that the economic downturn will impact on the rate of new housing supply in the short to medium term. However, the long-term need to increase housing supply remains and achieving this is an ambition which the Scottish Government shares with CoSLA. Implementation of the new housing and planning delivery framework is fundamental to support a recovery in house-building, and for realising growth in housing supply to meet Scotland's long-term housing requirements and improve the affordability, stability and fairness of Scotland's housing system.
Are there plans to establish regional targets for housing supply?
The '35,000' national ambition underlines the importance of increasing housing supply and indicates the level of increase which is required overall to meet need and demand in the longer-term. However, it is not intended as a figure which the Scottish Government would seek to use as the driver for specific regional supply targets. The reformed housing and planning delivery framework is the key means to achieving the long-term goal of increased housing supply, and we will monitor progress towards this goal and may adjust it as necessary in the future.
Under the reformed housing and planning delivery framework, local authorities and housing market partnerships will decide their own housing supply targets - covering all tenures - based on housing need and demand assessments. These targets will be included in the local housing strategies and will inform housing land allocations in development plans to meet these targets.
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What benefit will the housing need and demand assessment bring?
As explained in the guidance published in 2008, the new approach to housing need and demand assessment should result in greater consistency and a more robust approach. The assessment will provide a shared evidence base for local housing strategies and development plans. The approach also encourages the assessment of housing need and demand across housing market areas, rather than within the geographical boundaries of a single local authority, and it sets out a framework which is relevant at local and regional level.
The housing need and demand assessment provides a step-by-step approach to assessing housing need and demand across all tenures.
It focuses on what local authorities should do as a minimum to produce robust and credible assessments.
The housing need and demand assessment promotes the use of secondary data and identifies key data sources. Good secondary data is available and should be used in preference to primary data. This should allow local authorities to regularly update their housing need and demand assessments.
The housing need and demand assessment also considers how local authorities can understand the needs of specific groups.
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How will housing market partnerships function?
Housing market partnerships will be led by local authorities, with housing and planning staff as core members. Partnerships will undertake housing need and demand assessments jointly.
The housing market partnership should serve as a forum in which housing and planning policy implications are discussed and the scale of housing requirement is identified. Partnerships should arrive at a housing supply target which will inform housing land allocations in development plans.
The Scottish Government is not specifying who must be involved in housing market partnerships. Local authorities should decide at what stage to include other organisations and bodies in partnerships.
There is a legislative duty to consult widely on the preparation of the local housing strategy and development plan, so local authorities should ensure that communities are properly involved at an early stage.
What role will local housing strategies have in the reformed housing and planning delivery framework?
The local housing strategy will have a greater strategic role in shaping the housing system as a whole. It will include housing supply targets derived from housing market need and demand assessments.
The local housing strategy will be aligned with the preparation of the development plan, with a common evidence base (derived from the housing need and demand assessment), and interlinked preparation timescales.
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What is the housing supply target?
The housing supply target covers all tenures and will be informed by the housing need and demand assessment, and discussion within the housing market partnership.
It should include new housing, replacement housing, empty properties brought back into use and conversions.
Housing supply targets can be set up at sub-local authority level.
Fifteen-year targets link to the development plan process.
Does the revised SPP 3 encourage a more positive approach to rural housing?
The revised SPP 3 encourages local authorities to consider all housing requirements, and this includes rural housing. Where there is an assessed housing requirement, local authorities should seek to meet it, although this must be done within the context of a sustainable settlement strategy. The revised SPP 3 sets out policy on the specific issues which affect rural housing.
Does the policy on affordable housing developer contributions apply only to social housing?
The revised SPP 3 makes clear that there is a wide range of housing types that can contribute towards a developer's contribution in delivering affordable housing. These include social rented and mid-market rent accommodation, but also forms of low-cost home ownership, such as shared equity, discounted low-cost housing for sale, including plots for self-build, and shared ownership homes. Where a planning authority agrees that low-cost home ownership will form part of a developer's contribution, this could either be delivered by the developer itself, for example through a private shared equity scheme or through the Scottish Government's Low-cost Initiative for First Time Buyers (LIFT).
Planning Modernisation and Coordination
Housing Markets and Supply
January 2009
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