Statutory duty under the Self Build and Custom Housebuilding Act 2015

The request was partially successful.

Dear South Norfolk District Council,

Could you please confirm the following:

1. Which policies in South Norfolk District Council's currently adopted development plan specifically cater for the identified need for self build and custom housing.

2. How many people were registered on South Norfolk District Council's Self Build and Custom Build register as of the following dates: 31 October 2016; 31 October 2017; 31 October 2018; 31 October 2019; and how many people are currently registered on the same.

3. How many self-build/custom build plots the Council currently needs to deliver to meet its statutory duty under Section 2A of The Self Build and Custom Housebuilding Act 2015 (as amended).

4. How many self-build/custom build plots the Council has granted planning permission for in the period between 31 October 2016 and 31 October 2019, and how many it has granted planning permission for since 31 October 2019.

5. How the Council currently calculates whether or not it has met its statutory duty to satisfy demand for self build and custom housebuilding under The Self Build and Custom Housebuilding Act 2015 (as amended).

6. Whether the Council counts single dwelling planning permissions in these calculations and, if so, how many such permissions are included in the figures provided in question 4 above.

7. How the Council ensures that planning permissions granted for self build and custom housing are developed in a manner that accords with the legal definition of self-build and custom housebuilding in the Self Build and Custom Housebuilding Act 2015 (as amended).

Yours faithfully,

N Cook

Dear South Norfolk District Council,

A minor change to the dates in questions 2 and 4 (the other questions remain as is):

2. How many people were registered on South Norfolk District Council's Self Build and Custom Build register as of the following dates: 30 October 2016; 30 October 2017; 30 October 2018; 30 October 2019; and how many people are currently registered on the same.

4. How many self-build/custom build plots the Council has granted planning permission for in the period between 31 October 2016 and 30 October 2019, and how many it has granted planning permission for since 31 October 2019.

Yours faithfully,

Niall Cook

Dear South Norfolk District Council,

By way of clarification re: question 7, I am specifically referring to the definition of self-build and custom housebuilding set out in The Self-Build and Custom Housebuilding Act 2015 (as amended), Section 1 (A1) which states:

In this Act “self-build and custom housebuilding” means the building or completion by—

(a)individuals,
(b)associations of individuals, or
(c)persons working with or for individuals or associations of individuals,

of houses to be occupied as homes by those individuals.

Yours faithfully,

N Cook

Right2Know,

Dear Niall

Thank you for your request of information which is being considered. You may be aware that we have to respond to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests within 20 working days and as soon as is reasonably practicable, therefore you will receive a response by 3 January 2020 or earlier.

For your information, the Act defines a number of exemptions, which may prevent release of the information you have requested. There will be an assessment and if any of the exemption categories apply then some or all of the information may not be released. You will be informed if this is the case, including your rights of appeal.

If any of the information you have requested is not contained in a recorded format, South Norfolk Council is not obliged to create information for the purpose of responding to your request

There may be a fee payable for ‘reasonable disbursement’ costs such as postage and photocopying. This will be considered and you will be informed if a fee is payable. In this event the fee must be paid before the information is processed and released. The 20 working day time limit for responses is suspended until receipt of the payment.

If you have any queries or concerns then please let me know. If you do contact us again concerning this request, please quote FOI 19-614.

Regards

Tracy Brady
Democratic Services and Governance Officer
t 01508 535321 e [South Norfolk District Council request email]

This email and any attachments are intended for the addressee only and may be confidential. If they come to you in error you must take no action based on them, nor must you copy or show them to anyone. Please advise the sender by replying to this email immediately and then delete the original from your computer. Unless this email relates to Broadland District Council or South Norfolk Council business it will be regarded by the council as personal and will not be authorised by or sent on behalf of the councils. The sender will have sole responsibility for any legal actions or disputes that may arise. We have taken steps to ensure that this email and any attachments are free from known viruses but in keeping with good computing practice, you should ensure they are virus free. Emails sent from and received by members and employees of Broadland District Council and South Norfolk Council may be monitored.
This email and any attachments are intended for the addressee only and may be confidential. If they come to you in error you must take no action based on them, nor must you copy or show them to anyone. Please advise the sender by replying to this email immediately and then delete the original from your computer. Unless this email relates to Broadland District Council or South Norfolk Council business it will be regarded by the council as personal and will not be authorised by or sent on behalf of the councils. The sender will have sole responsibility for any legal actions or disputes that may arise. We have taken steps to ensure that this email and any attachments are free from known viruses but in keeping with good computing practice, you should ensure they are virus free. Emails sent from and received by members and employees of Broadland District Council and South Norfolk Council may be monitored.

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Right2Know,

5 Attachments

Dear Niall

 

Thank you for your request of information which is being considered. You
may be aware that we have to respond to Freedom of Information (FOI)
requests within 20 working days and as soon as is reasonably practicable,
therefore you will receive a response by 2 January 2020 or earlier.

For your information, the Act defines a number of exemptions, which may
prevent release of the information you have requested. There will be an
assessment and if any of the exemption categories apply then some or all
of the information may not be released. You will be informed if this is
the case, including your rights of appeal.

 

If any of the information you have requested is not contained in a
recorded format, South Norfolk Council is not obliged to create
information for the purpose of responding to your request

There may be a fee payable for ‘reasonable disbursement’ costs such as
postage and photocopying. This will be considered and you will be informed
if a fee is payable. In this event the fee must be paid before the
information is processed and released. The 20 working day time limit for
responses is suspended until receipt of the payment.

If you have any queries or concerns then please let me know.  If you do
contact us again concerning this request, please quote FOI 19-616.

 

Regards

 

 

Emma Goddard
Senior Governance Officer & Deputy Monitoring Officer
t 01508 533943 e [email address]  

[1][IMG] [2]Broadland District Council [5]South Norfolk Council Logo
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[3]Facebook Logo [4]Twitter Logo Logo

This email and any attachments are intended for the addressee only and may
be confidential. If they come to you in error you must take no action
based on them, nor must you copy or show them to anyone. Please advise the
sender by replying to this email immediately and then delete the original
from your computer. Unless this email relates to Broadland District
Council or South Norfolk Council business it will be regarded by the
council as personal and will not be authorised by or sent on behalf of the
councils. The sender will have sole responsibility for any legal actions
or disputes that may arise. We have taken steps to ensure that this email
and any attachments are free from known viruses but in keeping with good
computing practice, you should ensure they are virus free. Emails sent
from and received by members and employees of Broadland District Council
and South Norfolk Council may be monitored.

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Right2Know,

5 Attachments

Apologies Niall, I did not realise that you email below related to FOI
19-614. I have passed this on to the officer who is compiling a response
to your request, along with your further email regarding this.

 

Regards

 

Emma Goddard
Senior Governance Officer & Deputy Monitoring Officer
t 01508 533943 e [email address]  

[1][IMG] [2]Broadland District Council [5]South Norfolk Council Logo
Logo [6]Facebook Logo [7]Twitter
[3]Facebook Logo [4]Twitter Logo Logo

This email and any attachments are intended for the addressee only and may
be confidential. If they come to you in error you must take no action
based on them, nor must you copy or show them to anyone. Please advise the
sender by replying to this email immediately and then delete the original
from your computer. Unless this email relates to Broadland District
Council or South Norfolk Council business it will be regarded by the
council as personal and will not be authorised by or sent on behalf of the
councils. The sender will have sole responsibility for any legal actions
or disputes that may arise. We have taken steps to ensure that this email
and any attachments are free from known viruses but in keeping with good
computing practice, you should ensure they are virus free. Emails sent
from and received by members and employees of Broadland District Council
and South Norfolk Council may be monitored.

From: Right2Know
Sent: 06 December 2019 10:57
To: Niall Cook <[FOI #624593 email]>
Subject: RE: Freedom of Information request - Statutory duty under the
Self Build and Custom Housebuilding Act 2015 (FOI 19-616)

 

Dear Niall

 

Thank you for your request of information which is being considered. You
may be aware that we have to respond to Freedom of Information (FOI)
requests within 20 working days and as soon as is reasonably practicable,
therefore you will receive a response by 2 January 2020 or earlier.

For your information, the Act defines a number of exemptions, which may
prevent release of the information you have requested. There will be an
assessment and if any of the exemption categories apply then some or all
of the information may not be released. You will be informed if this is
the case, including your rights of appeal.

 

If any of the information you have requested is not contained in a
recorded format, South Norfolk Council is not obliged to create
information for the purpose of responding to your request

There may be a fee payable for ‘reasonable disbursement’ costs such as
postage and photocopying. This will be considered and you will be informed
if a fee is payable. In this event the fee must be paid before the
information is processed and released. The 20 working day time limit for
responses is suspended until receipt of the payment.

If you have any queries or concerns then please let me know.  If you do
contact us again concerning this request, please quote FOI 19-616.

 

Regards

 

 

Emma Goddard
Senior Governance Officer & Deputy Monitoring Officer
t 01508 533943 e [8][email address]  

[9][IMG] [10]Broadland District Council [13]South Norfolk Council Logo
Logo [14]Facebook [15]Twitter
[11]Facebook Logo [12]Twitter Logo Logo
Logo

This email and any attachments are intended for the addressee only and may
be confidential. If they come to you in error you must take no action
based on them, nor must you copy or show them to anyone. Please advise the
sender by replying to this email immediately and then delete the original
from your computer. Unless this email relates to Broadland District
Council or South Norfolk Council business it will be regarded by the
council as personal and will not be authorised by or sent on behalf of the
councils. The sender will have sole responsibility for any legal actions
or disputes that may arise. We have taken steps to ensure that this email
and any attachments are free from known viruses but in keeping with good
computing practice, you should ensure they are virus free. Emails sent
from and received by members and employees of Broadland District Council
and South Norfolk Council may be monitored.

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Right2Know,

5 Attachments

Dear Niall

 

I refer to your Freedom of Information request to which I am now in a
position to respond. My response is outlined below along with your
questions for ease of reference.

 

1.  Which policies in South Norfolk District Council's currently adopted
development plan specifically cater for the identified need for self build
and custom housing.

 

The only direct refence to self- and custom-build housing in adopted Local
Plan policy is in the 2016 [1]Long Stratton Area Action Plan, in Policy
LNGS1 which allocates land for circa 1,800 homes.  The Council’s 2015
[2]Development Management Policies refer to the need for self-build being
identified in the future as part of the housing mix for sites, under
Policy DM3.1.  The subsequent 2016 Strategic Housing Market Assessment
(SHMA) used the Self Build Portal’s ‘Need-a-Plot’ database, which
identified relatively low demand in the area, although acknowledged that
this was a relatively limited source of evidence.  The update to the SHMA
in 2017 did not cover the issue of self and custom build.

 

The Council has produced an 2017 [3]Advice Note on seeking permission for
self- and custom-build developments and the issue will also be considered
as part of the emerging [4]Greater Norwich Local Plan.

 

2. How many people were registered on South Norfolk District Council's
Self Build and Custom Build register as of the following dates: 30 October
2016; 30 October 2017; 30 October 2018; 30 October 2019; and how many
people are currently registered on the same.

 

30 October 2016: 112

30 October 2017: 268

30 October 2018: 372

30 October 2019: 481

 

3. How many self-build/custom build plots the Council currently needs to
deliver to meet its statutory duty under Section 2A of The Self Build and
Custom Housebuilding Act 2015 (as amended).

 

We are not entirely clear what you are referring to, however we hope the
following figures include the information you are seeking:

o Current unmet obligation arising from Base Period 1 (to October 2016):
none (we have met out obligation)
o Current (9 December 2019) total obligation arising from Base Periods
1-5: 422 (415 to the end of Base Period 4)
o Current unmet obligation arising from Base Periods 1-4 (to 30 October
2019): 83

 

4. How many self-build/custom build plots the Council has granted planning
permission for in the period between 31 October 2016 and 30 October 2019,
and how many it has granted planning permission for since 31 October 2019.

 

There are currently 334 dwellings (325 between 31st October 2016 and 30th
October 2019 and 9 since 31st October 2019) listed as permissions that
could be suitable development to fulfil our requirement to provide enough
serviced plots to meet the demand for self-build and custom building. 

 

5. How the Council currently calculates whether or not it has met its
statutory duty to satisfy demand for self build and custom housebuilding
under The Self Build and Custom Housebuilding Act 2015 (as amended).

 

We have no report or published information on this, so we are unable to 
answer this question under FOI legislation.

 

6. Whether the Council counts single dwelling planning permissions in
these calculations and, if so, how many such permissions are included in
the figures provided in question 4 above.

 

We count any permissions we consider could be suitable and this includes
single dwelling permissions. The figures stated in question 4 include 248
dwellings that are single dwelling permissions.

 

7. How the Council ensures that planning permissions granted for self
build and custom housing are developed in a manner that accords with the
legal definition of self-build and custom housebuilding in the Self Build
and Custom Housebuilding Act 2015 (as amended).

 

We do not report or monitor to ensure the planning permissions granted are
developed in this manner. 

 

I hope this is of assistance and is sufficient to meet your requirements,
but if, for whatever reason you wish to get back to me, please feel free
to do so. In particular if you are unhappy with the information provided
or how your request was handled please let me know and I will explain how
you can request an internal review of our decision. 

 

Please quote FOI 19-614 in any further correspondence concerning this
request.

 

Regards

 

Emma Goddard
Senior Governance Officer & Deputy Monitoring Officer
t 01508 533943 e [email address]  

[5][IMG] [6]Broadland District Council [9]South Norfolk Council Logo
Logo [10]Facebook Logo [11]Twitter
[7]Facebook Logo [8]Twitter Logo
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This email and any attachments are intended for the addressee only and may
be confidential. If they come to you in error you must take no action
based on them, nor must you copy or show them to anyone. Please advise the
sender by replying to this email immediately and then delete the original
from your computer. Unless this email relates to Broadland District
Council or South Norfolk Council business it will be regarded by the
council as personal and will not be authorised by or sent on behalf of the
councils. The sender will have sole responsibility for any legal actions
or disputes that may arise. We have taken steps to ensure that this email
and any attachments are free from known viruses but in keeping with good
computing practice, you should ensure they are virus free. Emails sent
from and received by members and employees of Broadland District Council
and South Norfolk Council may be monitored.

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