Planning England V Wales, is there a Divide?

Associate director in the Cardiff planning team of Savills, Rhys Govier, on the UK Government’s mission to speed up planning in England and whether the Welsh Government will be left behind.

We have never before seen planning reform take such centre stage as a key policy of the new Labour UK Government.

With little or no room for additional borrowing, and a manifesto pledge not to raise taxes, the new Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, borrowed the phrase ‘graveyard of ambition’, often cited (incorrectly) as Dylan Thomas’ description of his hometown of Swansea (it was actually coined by another poet, David Hughes), in the wake of English planning reform announcements. The new UK Government sees planning reform as critical to kickstarting higher levels of economic growth.

Planning, however, is a devolved matter. With Wales at the wrong end of the UK regional productivity league, with only 73% of UK GDP per capita, and assuming planning changes can trigger growth, this begs the question what reforms are required within our own planning system to ensure Wales does not fall further behind?

Housing need

In England there will be new, and bigger, housing targets. The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) consultation proposes to change the focus of local plans to categorically meet identified housing need, rather than as much of it as possible, by imposing a revised standard methodology as a starting point. This is a marked change.

In contrast, Welsh local authorities set their own housing figures based on population projections and an analysis of various growth options. While these figures do undergo independent examination, the arguably less rigorous and potentially less ambitious starting point is in stark contrast to England.

In England, the Westminster government is returning to a five year housing land supply test, something removed altogether in Wales since 2018, with no sign of it returning.

In fact, the only nationally set housing target in Wales is for 20,000 new low carbon homes for social rent during this Senedd term (2021-26), which the former Minister, Julie James MS, conceded would be “touch and go”. This in itself seems an optimistic outlook given that official data suggests just over a quarter of that target – 5,775 homes – was achieved in the first two years. The commitment was, however, repeated in the Welsh Labour Party manifesto 2024.

Reeves accepts that private sector investment is integral to meeting need in England. With a target of 1.5 million new homes in five years, Wales’ ‘Barnett consequential’ could equate to a target of 75,000 over the lifetime of this UK parliament (2024-29). Yet, while Future Wales (Welsh Government’s national development framework to 2040) includes a target of 20,000 new affordable homes, it is silent on any contribution from private housebuilders – despite recent data suggesting they contribute towards 80% of dwelling completions.

Green belt

We might start to see a discrepancy in how UK and Welsh governments look at green belt policy in the future.

The consultation NPPF on green belt makes it explicit that authorities must review boundaries where it cannot meet its housing need, while Future Wales offers “areas for consideration” for new green belt designations in the north, south west and south east. Yet some of these areas could represent some of the most sustainable areas for growth in Wales, especially those in the south east.

Although Future Wales is clear that any new green belt should be designated via strategic development Plans (much-delayed regional development plan documents), in advance of their adoption, its policies also state that “decisions should not permit major development in the areas shown for consideration for green belts, except in very exceptional circumstances”.

Data centres

The NPPF consultation gives renewed prominence to the development of data centres and gigafactories. In contrast, there is no overriding economic development policy within Future Wales – which could be a missed opportunity, as Wales needs to be competitively placed alongside other home nations.

There also appears to be a widening gap between England and Wales on energy infrastructure, grid connections and pylons. The Welsh Government has invested significant effort and resource into the Infrastructure (Wales) Act 2024 which became law in June, but there is much to do through supporting secondary legislation and guidance for it to become the flagship consenting regime promised.

In England, the new government was quick to approve three large solar farms (including one against an inspector’s recommendation), with the presumption more will follow.

Wales has been busy legislating and producing policy outputs on planning but is it creating a framework for sustainable growth, or is there a risk of over-regulation – the unintended consequences of which could be a slower, more expensive and less predictable system?

There is no doubt that new reforms in England will have implications for Wales’ future economic development – a real challenge for the new devolved administration that will take shape under Eluned Morgan’s leadership.

The political alignment between UK and Welsh governments creates an opportunity for mutual learning and cooperation. It is my hope that the new Welsh Housing Cabinet Secretary embraces the potential for positive change recognising the economic and social dividends of ambitious growth.

Source: Business Live