Manchester Annual Planning Survey Presentation Feb 2015

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Annual Planning Survey findings – 2014

18th February 2015

Accelerating Delivery of Development in

Manchester; is planning reform working?

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Alastair Crowdy

National Head of Planning, Development & Regeneration, GL Hearn

Welcome

Agenda

• Setting the scene and findings Mike Baker, Head of Manchester Planning, GL Hearn

• The local authority’s response David Roscoe, Planning, Development and Special Projects Manager, Manchester City

Council

• The private sector’s response Matt Crompton, Joint Managing Director, Muse Developments

• Debate, conclusions and next steps Melanie Leech, Chief Executive, British Property Federation

@GL_Hearn #planningsurvey

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Mike Baker

Head of Manchester Planning, GL Hearn

Setting the scene and findings

In 2012 the market was

subdued post-crash and the

NPPF had just been

published


“We're introducing a presumption in

favour of sustainable development.

The new policy comes into effect

when the NPPF is published next

Tuesday. This is the biggest

reduction in business red tape ever

undertaken”

George Osborne, 2012 Budget Speech


71% of Applicants and 88% of

LPAs believed NPPF would

lead to no change in

development activity


Our goal was to fuel an open,

factual and constructive

debate during this critical

period


APS Survey 2014

215 Applicants

37 Local Planning Authorities

Conducted June – July 2014

Respondents across England

Major Applications 2014

London (33),

Greater Manchester (10)

and Greater Bristol (4)

FOI and manual search

identified all major applications

Each application read

and data collated


3,700+ applications reviewed and 500+ opinions

canvassed

APS Survey:

UK wide

Major Applications:

Greater Bristol

2012 2013 2014

Major Applications:

London

Major Applications:

Greater Manchester

2011

* * *

NPPF


So in reality, what happened

after Osborne’s

announcement?


Construction activity has risen

Source: ONS, Construction Statistics, No. 15, 2014 Edition

Value of UK construction output (1997 – 2013) Current prices (£ million)


£35,597 £38,502

£41,916 £44,374

£47,187 £53,419

£59,344

£67,018 £69,657

£75,313 £81,391 £79,689

£65,881

£72,800

£78,102

£71,981

£74,922

£84,343

Value of UK construction output (1997 – 2014)

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm:77-360369

What’s happening in Greater Manchester?

2011/12 2012/13 2013/14

1,075

775

1,021

2012/13 2013/14

389 294

2013/14

LONDON GREATER

MANCHESTER

GREATER

BRISTOL

-28%

NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS

-24%

Source: GL Hearn and Circle Research

180


http://www.glhearn.com/

http://www.circle-research.com/

Greater Manchester by authority

3% 0%

-20%

-80% -63%

21%

-85%

313%

-47%

-5%

Source: GL Hearn and Circle Research @GL_Hearn #planningsurvey



High time for approval

2011/12 2012/13 2013/14

85% 84% 86%

2012/13 2013/14 2013/14

LONDON GREATER

MANCHESTER

GREATER

BRISTOL

95%

82%

93%


2013/14

87%

COMBINED

AVERAGE




But time continues to be the killer

14% 57% 20% 7%

Very dissatisfied Dissatisfied Neutral Satisfied Very satisfied

Base: All Applicants (215)

Q: Generally speaking, how satisfied are you with the length of time a typical planning application takes to reach a decision?


NET

-62%

How satisfied are you with the length of time a typical major planning

application takes to reach a decision?




Determination time hasn’t improved, and is still 6 months!

2011/12 2012/13 2013/14

34

24 26

2012/13 2013/14

22

2013/14

29

LONDON GREATER

MANCHESTER GREATER

BRISTOL

VALIDATION TO DETERMINATION TIME Source: GL Hearn and Circle Research

2013/14

25 weeks

COMBINED

21




Two LPAs hit government target, fourteen come close

12 13 14 14 14 15 16 16 16 17 18 19 19 19

23 23 23 23 23 23 25 26 27 27 28 28 29 29 29 29 30 31 31 32 32 33

35 36 37 39 39

42

46 47 47 48 50


SUBMISSION TO DETERMINATION TIME @GL_Hearn #planningsurvey



And this masks an additional

4–6 months pre-application*

and many months of

discharging conditions before

development can commence

*Source: Straw poll of GL Hearn and BPF members Oct 2014


Some support for PPAs, but most LPAs feel change has

had little impact on development activity

29%

21%

68%

70%

72%

72%

6%

19%

19% 9%

Neighbourhood Plans

CIL

The Town Centre 1st Policy

PPAs

Decreased a lot Decreased a little No impact

Increased a little Increased a lot

Base: All LPAs excluding don’t know (32-34)

Q: And what effect, if any, do you feel each of the following policies have had on the level of development activity in the UK?


NET

+28%

+16%

-12%

-26%




And most Applicants identify CIL as a barrier to growth

5%

10%

4%

25%

45%

19%

47%

35%

56%

59%

20%

9%

20%

35%

Neighbourhood Plans

CIL

The Town Centre 1st Policy

PPAs

Decreased a lot Decreased a little No impact

Increased a little Increased a lot

Base: All Applicants excluding don’t know (160-198)

Q: And what effect, if any, do you feel each of the following policies have had on the level of development activity in the UK?


NET

+34%

-1%

-45%

-8%




38%

62%

Both parties agree - the system still has significant problems

3%

50%

47%

LPAs Applicants

It’s absolutely fine – don’t make any changes

It’s generally OK – keep it mostly unchanged, but make a few tweaks

It has significant problems – you need to make major changes

Think ahead to this year’s General Election. What advice would you give the incoming

Government, whoever that might be, about the planning system?

Base: All LPAs (37); All Applicants (215)

Q: Think ahead to next year’s General Election. What advice would you give the incoming Government, whoever that might be, about the planning system?





Despite this, we need to build

homes at double the rate


To do so, we need to address the root causes

43% 41%

35%

24%

19%

3%

25%

18%

43%

52%

29% 26%

Securing funding fordevelopments

Demand from homebuyers with

adequate funds

A shortage of land The planning system The requirement foraffordable housing

CIL

LPAs Applicants

Base: All LPAs (37); All Applicants (215)

Q: Think now about housing delivery. What do you see as the major barriers to increasing the rate of housing delivery?


What do you see as the major barriers to increasing the rate of housing delivery?




Five LPAs outperform when speed is linked to volume

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Nu

mb

er

of a

pp

lica

tion

s (

20

13

/14

)

Average time (submission to determination)


Camden

Westminster

Hounslow

Bath

Manchester City




2 years of hard data – what’s changed in Greater

Manchester?

2012/13 2013/14


NPPF


Volume

Approval rate

Weeks

389

294

93%

95%

21 22



Planning reforms so far

• Swathe of reforms under Coalition Agreement, including:

• Localism Act 2011

• NPPF

• Growth and Infrastructure Act 2013

• Further reforms and announcements:

• Conditions - addressing delays

• Local Plans - introducing a statutory requirement

• Changes of use - allowing further changes without planning

• Permitted development rights - further reform

• Statutory consultees - changing thresholds for involvement

• EIA – changes to size thresholds for some Schedule 2 projects


One to watch

Planning authority performance and special measures (2013 Act)

• Submit major applications direct to Planning Inspectorate where LPA

has poor record of performance

• Recent consultation:

• Adjudged as poor performers if 40% or fewer major applications

determined within 13 weeks or where more than 20% of major

applications have been overturned at appeal.

• Councils may continue to deal with the administrative tasks/s106

• Concern: to avoid being ‘poor performer’, Councils may increasingly

use PPAs and take outside the statistics

• Next full round of designations is due in October 2014


What else could be done?

Time for formal review of Killian Pretty report?

(Planning applications: a faster more responsive system ,2008)

• Revisit/consider for major applications:

• Reducing information/validation requirements

• Strengthening pre-application rules

• Strengthening PPAs

• Reviewing timeframes around determination/rewards/penalties

• Effectively engaging with members

• Encouraging delegation

• Considering deadlines for all consultees

• Staged, consistent and clear officer reporting

• Clearer ring-fencing planning application and PPA fees


“We note that current economic conditions are, in the short term at

least, likely to lead to a marked downturn in the number of planning

applications being received by local planning authorities. We would

strongly encourage local authorities to think carefully before making any

dramatic reduction in the number of planning staff in reaction to this.

The results of drastic contractions in local authority planning

departments during past economic downturns are still having an impact

upon the staffing and skills base of the planning system many years

later. A reduction in the number of applications being processed may

thus provide some ‘breathing space’ for local planning authorities to

take time to make improvements to the way they work.”

(Killian Pretty, 2008)

The Big Issue?

“We note that current economic conditions are, in the short term at

least, likely to lead to a marked downturn in the number of planning

applications being received by local planning authorities. We would

strongly encourage local authorities to think carefully before making any

dramatic reduction in the number of planning staff in reaction to this.

The results of drastic contractions in local authority planning

departments during past economic downturns are still having an impact

upon the staffing and skills base of the planning system many years

later. A reduction in the number of applications being processed may

thus provide some ‘breathing space’ for local planning authorities to

take time to make improvements to the way they work.”

(Killian Pretty, 2008)


Final thought!

Develop planning departments, boosting capacity and skills:

• If extra funding is unlikely to come from government, is there a way

in which the private sector can provide financial support which overall

is cost neutral?

• Possibly - if the current process is made simpler and less complex,

and the cost of preparing and supporting major applications reduced

significantly, then planning fees could rise and help better resource

planning departments.

• Short-term - could a programme be created through which local

authorities are encouraged to share knowledge, skills and resources

with other authorities?


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David Roscoe

Planning, Development and Special Projects Manager,

Manchester City Council

The local authority’s response

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Matt Crompton

Joint Managing Director, Muse Developments

The private sector’s response

Why choose Muse?

• ‘Property Company of the Year 2014’

• Sector spread

• Over 30 years’ experience

• 40 schemes

• £2.2 billion pipeline

• National presence

• £278m construction works on site

• £258m to place in 2015

Private sector opinion on …

• Quantum

• Speed

• Success rate

• Status quo or change?

• What ‘good’ looks like …

The importance of planning

• Site identification

• Competition analysis

• Design team

• Viability analysis

• Land assembly

• Planning

• Design

• Funding

• Construction procurement

• Marketing

• Letting

• Disposal

Quantum

• Global dynamics

• European influence

• UK economy

• Government policy

• Regional variances

• Sector performance

• Availability of funds

• Occupier interest

• Viability

Speed

• Quality of submission

• Capacity within the LPA

• Quality of LPA resource

• Openness/ transparency

• Commerciality

Success rate

• Consultation

• Comprehensiveness

• Date of engagement

• Quality of submission

• Appropriateness of proposals

• Commerciality

More reform?

• Don’t move the goalposts …

• If it ain’t broke …

• Let sleeping dogs lie …

• Status quo …

• Don’t throw the baby out …

More reform?

• Don’t move the goalposts …

• If it ain’t broke …

• Let sleeping dogs lie …

• Status quo …

• Don’t throw the baby out …

• … with a few tweaks!

The secret of success

• Do something special …








• Do something special

• Engage very early

• Consult because you want to

• Listen, and act

• Quality, quality, quality

• Open and transparent

• Communicate

• Be commercial

• Choose your LPA carefully!

Thank you!

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Melanie Leech

Chief Executive, British Property Federation

Debate, conclusions and next steps

Documents

Manchester Annual Planning Survey Presentation Feb 2015