PIP- The Newest Acronym to the Planning Dictionary
Permission in principle (PIP) was first established in planning law when Section 150 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 inserted sections 58A, 59A and 70(2ZZA) to (2ZZC) into the 1990 Act.
The Housing and Planning Act 2016 (Permission in Principle etc.) (Miscellaneous Amendments) (England) Regulations 2017 was made on March 6th 2017. This instrument makes a number of consequential or miscellaneous amendments to four Acts of Parliament.
In our planning reforms blog, we set out a number of statutory instruments that would need to be made before the implementation of PIP. These include the Permission in Principle Regulations and the Brownfield Land Register Regulations which have now been made and came into force in the middle of April 2017.
There are three options for PIP:
- A qualifying body or local authority chose to allocate the site within an emerging plan
- The site is identified on a brownfield register. “brownfield land register” means a register kept under regulation 3 of the Town and Country Planning (Brownfield Land Register) Regulations 2017(b);
- An application to the authority for PIP
A PIP in itself does not constitute a permission, a technical details submission in required in accordance with the amended Development Management Procedure Order. A technical details consent would be required within 5 years of receiving the PIP.
We set out below the regulations for option 2- Brownfield Land Register
Brownfield Land Register
The Town and Country Planning (Brownfield Land Register) Regulations 2017 were made on 20th March 2017, Laid before Parliament 23rd March 2017 and came into force on 16th April 2017.
Article 4 of the Permission in Principle Order states that:
“Permission in principle is hereby granted for development of land allocated in Part 2 of a brownfield land register consisting of—
(a) housing development for the provision of a number of dwellings falling within the range specified in the relevant entry in the brownfield land register; and
(b) Where the relevant entry in the brownfield land register specifies non-housing development of the land, non-housing development of a description falling within the description in that entry
The regulations place a duty on local authorities to prepare a register of previously developed land (Brownfield Land Register) within their area and meets criteria of paragraph 1 of regulation 4, i.e. suitable for housing development. This register must be published by December 31st and it must be in 2 parts.
Part 1
To be within part 1 of the register, the following criteria applies in accordance with article 4.—(1):
- The land has an area of at least 0.25 hectares or is capable of supporting at least 5 dwellings;
- The land is
- Suitable,
- Available
Suitable meaning
- allocated in a local development plan document
- planning permission for residential development
- has a grant of permission in principle for residential development
- Appropriate for residential development with regards to natural environment and local built environment.
Available meaning
- the owner expressed an intention to sell or develop the land, or
- the local authority believe there to be no issues relating to ownership and legal impediments which might prevent residential development
Achievable meaning
- The development is likely to take place within 15 years.
Note that this is different to deliverable which is taken to mean that there is a reasonable prospect that residential development will take place on the land within 5 years beginning with the entry date;
The part 1 register must include:
- the local authority’s own reference for the land;
- the name and address of the land;
- a plan which identifies the land;
- site co-ordinate and co-ordinate reference system used
- the area of the land in hectares;
- the name of the local authority;
- the uniform resource identifier “URI”
- the ownership status of the land
- where the land is “deliverable” a note to that effect;
- the planning status of the land, expressed as—
- “permissioned”,( including full, outline or reserved matters, or permission in principle or technical details consent)
- “not permissioned”, or
- “pending decision”;
- a description of any proposed housing development; or
- the minimum and maximum net number of dwellings, given as a range, which, in the authority’s opinion, the land is capable of supporting;
- the minimum net number of dwellings which, in the authority’s opinion, the land is capable of supporting;
- where the development includes non-housing development, the scale of any such development and the use to which it is to be put;
- the date that the land was first entered in the register; and
- where applicable, the date that information about the land was last updated in the register.
The LPA must also show that they have undertaken the publication of the site in part 1 in accordance with the regulations. They must also show that they have given requisite notice of their intention to enter that land in Part 2,
Part 2
In accordance with article 4 of the Town and Country Planning (Permission in Principle) Order 2017, sites that are within part 2 of the register are allocated for Permission in Principle.
The site has to meet all of the requirements of part 1, and the Local Authority have decided to allocate the site for residential purposes and have undertaken consultation as required. This includes giving requisite notice in at least one place on or near the land for not less than 21 days stating the date in which representations may be made, where and when to view the information and how to submit representations. Spefic information must be published on a website maintained by the local planning authority.
In relation to each entry of land in Part 2, the register must contain—
- the minimum net number of dwellings, and the maximum net number of dwellings, given as a range
- where the development includes non-housing development, the scale of any such development and the use to which it is to be put.
The register must contain the information required by paragraph (3) of regulation 26 of the Planning (Hazardous Substances) Regulations 2015(a) where—
- development of that land would, in the opinion of the local planning authority, be a relevant project for the purpose of that regulation; and
- The local planning authority is the competent authority for the purpose of that regulation.
The register must, in relation to that land, contain the statement “allocated for residential development for the purposes of section 59A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (permission in principle)” and the statement in Part 1, required by paragraph 1(2), if any, must be removed.
The regulations place a duty on local authorities to notify parishes or neighbourhood forums where they have requested notification of a proposed entry of land into part 2.
The regulations also set the requirements for undertaking consultation with neighbouring authorities, the Mayor of London and procedures for consulting other bodies.
Exemptions for certain types of land
Schedule 1 EIA development is excluded from entry into part 2 of the Register. Schedule 2 development may be included within part 2 if the authority have the information available in accordance with the EIA regulations to be able to adopt a screening opinion that development on the site would not constitute EIA development.
Review and revision
Review must be undertaken at least once within each register year. Where land no longer meets the criteria, it must be removed. The local planning authority must not update the information required under paragraph 2 of Schedule 2 in relation to an entry of land in Part 2.
Where the land no longer meets criteria of paragraph 1 of regulation 4, it must be removed from part 1 and where applicable part 2
The local authority will need to consult as necessary and make updates to the entry
The LPA must not update the information relating to the minimum and maximum no of units and scale of non-housing development (paragraph 2).
Where an update to the minimum and maximum no of units and scale of non-housing development is required, or development of that land has been granted permission in principle under Section 59 of the TCPA
The land must be removed from part 2 and information amended in part 1. They must consult before making changes.
Where PIP has expired (5 years) the site must also be removed from part 2.
If you are looking for sites, come and talk to us. We can support your land acquisition activities using the brownfield land register and prepare a schedule that suits you to provide the greatest exposure to identify viable opportunities within any number of Local Authority areas.
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