Southampton City Council Planning and Development Management Impact of policy changes to control Garden Grabbing

1.

On 9th June 2010, private residential gardens were excluded from the definition of previously developed land in the Governments revised Planning Policy Statement on Housing (PPS3). Also, the requirement to achieve a minimum density of at least 30 dwellings per hectare was removed. PPS3 states that the priority for development should remain focused on previously developed land, but as this now excludes private residential gardens, gardens have been offered more protection from new development. Therefore, the focus for development is land that has been previously developed, although, even sites that are considered to fall within this category must be assessed and there is no presumption that land that is previously-developed is necessarily suitable for housing development nor that the whole of the curtilage should be developed (PPS3, para 41). Consideration needs to be given to whether the sites are sustainable and suitable with respect to various other technical issues. It follows that if previously developed land is the focus for new development that other land can still be developed , although the tests are higher, and this is explained below. The Southampton City Council Core Strategy indicates that 16,300 additional homes will be provided over the plan period, with 5,750 homes to be provided on allocated and identified sites between April 2009 and March 2014 (see Policy CS4 - Housing Delivery). The figures demonstrate that the city has a housing supply from identified sites sufficient to meet requirements until and beyond 2018/19, without reliance on windfall sites. In addition, the Council has reviewed the impact of this change in policy to ensure that there is still a 5 year supply of housing capable of being delivered without relying on sites currently used as gardens. This demonstrated that this was the case and so the approach of Southampton City Council is that the redevelopment of garden land will no longer be automatically supported. This means that the principle of development will now be an issue for new windfall proposals for housing units to be built entirely on private residential gardens. The starting position is that such applications are unlikely to be acceptable in principle, unless they are included in the current list of allocated and identified sites referred to in the Core Strategy, subject to the caveat in the next paragraph. In certain cirumstances, it may be possible to build on garden land as an exception to the above in principle position as PPS3 also makes clear that the effective use of land is also a factor. Therefore, if a site can be

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

developed that makes efficient use of land and does not raise any other significant concerns, then it could be considered favourably. The Council is of the opinion that it may be possible to develop land that is within an existing garden if it does not raise new significant issues or impacts. For example, if there is a space next to the road that is a side or rear garden of an existing dwelling it may be possible to finish off the development pattern with little impact. However, it will now be much more unlikely that new backland development or squeezing in new units to subdivided plots will be supported as such proposals tend to have considerable impact on neighbouring properties. 7. Where new development is to be supported, it will have to be demonstrated that the proposal is in keeping with the character of the area by reflecting the existing urban grain, that policies seeking to retain family dwellings have been respected, that the resulting plot sizes and ratio of built form to garden are similar to the existing, and any opportunities to provide an attractive landscaped setting with benefits to wildlife and plants have been achieved wherever possible. Proposals to replace existing dwellings which do not impact on the surrounding garden land are not affected by this policy change. Proposals to replace existing dwellings which also involve extending the building footprint into the garden area are not as clear cut as they fall partly on previously developed land and partly on garden land. The judgement as to whether such proposals are acceptable will need to consider, amongst other factors: a. the loss of private residential garden land; b. the impact on the character of the area; and c. the contribution to meeting housing need.

8. 9.

Chris Lyons Planning and Development Manager 28th February 2011