PPG3 Assessing urban housing capacity

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Dear Mr Watts,

I refer to your e-mail dated 24th December 2008 in connection with the above and would respond as below. Please accept my apologies for the delay in replying.

Accordingly, I have considered your request and set out below (in italics) the matters you have raised in your e-mail dated 24th December 2008, followed by my response to these matters.

Dear Sir or Madam,

as detailed in the Governments PPG3 (Planning Policy Guidelines 3)
"all local planning authorities should undertake urban housing
capacity studies" - "(25). Each local authority will be responsible
for evaluating the capacity of its area."

I am aware this policy has been superseded by PPS3 however I am
trying to establish why Sefton failed to build enough houses in the
Southport as far back as PPG3 and even up to and past PPS3.

Southport Area

Who is the Local Planning Authority for Sefton? What urban housing
capacity studies were done + date? What was the conclusion on
housing needs + date? Why weren't enough houses built to meet
demand?

My response:

You are correct that PPG3: Housing, which was published in March 2000 (but is now superseded by PPS3 Housing), sets out a responsibility, at paragraph 25, for each local authority to evaluate the housing capacity of its area.

Accordingly, in the period between 2002 and 2004, Sefton Council in association with Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, St Helens and Wirral and in conjunction with consultants White Young Green and Chesterton undertook a Merseyside Urban Capacity Study consistent with PPG3 advice. The aim of the study was to assess the extent to which the urban areas of Merseyside could accommodate new housing development needs over the period 2003 to 2016.

The key conclusions of the study were as follows:

- there was sufficient urban capacity through to 2021 to meet the housing needs of Merseyside and that there was no need for new greenfield land release
- as far as Sefton was concerned the study found that there was:

‘sufficient capacity to meet the Borough’s housing requirements up to 2011 without the need to allocate further sites. This will need to be kept under review. After 2011 there may be a need to bring forward the Town Lane site; however updating this study will provide a clearer view on this in due course.’

A copy of this study can be accessed on the Sefton website under: http://www.sefton.gov.uk/planningpolicy

In November 2006 PPS3: Housing replaced PPG3 and at paragraph 54 it states that:

‘Drawing on information from the Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment and or other relevant evidence, Local Planning Authorities should identify sufficient specific deliverable sites to deliver housing in the first five years’.

Furthermore, it goes on to state, inter alia, that:

‘Local Planning Authorities should also:

Identify a further supply of specific, developable sites for 6-10 years and, where possible, for 11-15 years. Where it is not possible to identify specific sites from 11-15 years, broad locations should be indicated.

Accordingly and consistent with this advice, Sefton in partnership with West Lancashire District Council, Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council and consultants White Young Green is currently undertaking a Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment and a draft report, including key findings, will be available for public and stakeholder consultation (for 6 weeks) in late February or early March 2009.

Separately consultants Fordham Research are undertaking a Strategic Housing Market Assessment (consistent with PPS3 advice) to establish the need for affordable and other forms of housing in Sefton (to update and expand on the 2003 and 2005 Housing Needs Assessment) and this should be available for public and stakeholder consultation (for 6 weeks) in mid to late February 2009.

The housing requirement for Sefton was set by Regional Planning Guidance (RPG) until it was replaced by the Regional Planning Strategy (RSS) on 30th September 2008.

In terms of RPG there was a requirement for Sefton to provide 350 net dwellings per annum for each year from 2002 to 2017 and to support this, consistent with Government advice, the Council applied a housing restraint policy (to ensure that this figure was not significantly exceeded) from July 2003 until rescinded by Council in November 2008. Taking the period 2002 to 2008 there was a requirement for 2,100 net dwellings (i.e. 350 multiplied by 6 years) and we have built 2,643 dwellings, a surplus of 543 dwellings.

In terms of the more recent RSS approved in September 2008, there is now a requirement for Sefton to provide 500 net dwellings per annum for each year from 2003 to 2021. Taking the period 2003 to 2008, there is therefore a requirement for 2,500 net dwellings (i.e. 500 multiplied by 5 years) and we have built 2,127 dwellings, a shortfall of 373 dwellings, This is in major part because these new figures now apply retrospectively and to a time when a lower RPG housing figure and a housing restraint policy were correctly applied in Sefton, so it is inevitable that we have a historical shortfall in completions on the new RSS basis.

There is no specific disagreggated housing requirement for Southport. However, if we assume as a rough and ready ‘proxy’ that the number of dwellings built in Southport should reflect its proportion of households in Sefton (based on the 2001 census), then it would be reasonable to assume that 33.2% of all Borough net dwellings completions should be in Southport. Based on net dwelling completions for the period 2002 to 2008 in accordance with RPG, some 36.9% (i.e. 975) of all Borough net dwelling completions have been in Southport. Accordingly, Southport has secured a more than proportionate share of net housing completions vis-à-vis the Borough as a whole over this period.

In short, taking the RPG net housing figure for Sefton of 350 net dwellings per annum there is no evidence that Southport has suffered an under provision of new housing over the period 2002 to 2008; in fact, it has done somewhat better than other parts of the Borough. In terms of the new RSS net housing figure of 500 net dwellings per annum, given that it has only been applied from 30th September 2008 and then retrospectively to 2003, there is a modest shortfall in Borough provision, but this must be expected in these circumstances.

Finally, in answer to you question: ‘ Who is the Local Planning Authority for Sefton?’, the answer is Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council is the local planning authority for Sefton.

I trust that the above answers your questions but please do not hesitate to get back to me (contact details on the covering email) if you require any further clarification or information regarding this matter.

I would be grateful if you could kindly confirm receipt of this e-mail.

Yours sincerely,

Alan Young

Alan Young
Strategic Planning & Information Manager
Planning and Economic Regeneration Department
Sefton MBC
First Floor
Magdalen House
Trinity Road
Bootle L20 3NJ

Tel No. 0151 934 3551
Fax No. 0151 934 3561

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Dear Mr Watts

Thank you very much for your e-mail dated 27 January 2009.

Following your e-mail, I have revisited my original response and I am satisfied that it fully answers each of the questions that you have raised. I must emphasise that it is not possible, for the reasons explained in my e-mail of 22 January 2009, to provide any specific disaggregated information for Southport over and above that which has been provided to you so far. I therefore have nothing further to add.

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Yours sincerely

Alan Young

Alan Young
Strategic Planning & Information Manager
Planning and Economic Regeneration Department
Sefton MBC
First Floor
Magdalen House
Trinity Road
Bootle L20 3NJ

Tel No. 0151 934 3551
Fax No. 0151 934 3561

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Dear Alan Young,

My question was specific to Southport, why would someone working in
Southport choose to live in Liverpool and travel 28 miles each day
getting to and from work! I’m not interested in West Lancashire
District Council, Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council and Sefton
Metropolitan Borough Council.

I have seen with my own eyes the fantastic number of new homes
being built in Liverpool, you must be expecting the population to
double within the next year! Liverpool is 28 miles from me, I don’t
live in Liverpool! Well done for what you've done there.

I am also somewhat annoyed you’ve tried to claim part of what West
Lancashire has done, is part of your quota. Yes they have built “A
FEW HOMES” on the outskirts of Southport, you have not!

Further I am shocked you’ve employed international consultants,
what are they going to tell you? They don’t live here, like
seagulls they fly in squawk a lot, crap over everybody and fly off.
HOW MANY HOUSES ARE NEEDED IN SOUTHPORT why not start a council
register of people looking to buy within the next 5 years then take
away anticipated vacant stock add on requirements for social
housing and bingo I’m a consultant too! What these consultants have
done and charged the tax payer for is worthy of public examination.

The Southport Visitor reported Sefton Council had identified a need
for 6,000 new homes on 26th March 2008, building a pathetic 650
houses on the old Kew tip (which hasn’t even broke dirt yet) just
won’t do!

My next question really is going to have to be an investigation
into who involved in the planning process for Southport is a
property owner and how much the lack of building to meet demand is
down to self serving protectionism of their own property values.
The Policy Exchange called it like expecting turkey to vote for
Christmas. Having just gone through a database of all Southport
land registry sales from 2000 to 2008 you are all to be commended -
property prices are not falling in Southport, they stubbornly
refuse to fall back to their equilibrium and that is due to lack of
supply for the last 12 years.

Kew project isn’t green field it’s the old town tip with a few
inches of dirt on top and no doubt a bubbling methane deposit below
it waiting to go bang!

My Question again

Southport Area:

Who is the Local Planning Authority for Sefton? What urban housing
capacity studies were done + date? What was the conclusion on
housing needs + date? Why weren't enough houses built to meet
demand? <<< SOUTHPORT AREA ONLY

Yours sincerely,

Mr Watts

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