Interesting Developments

Following the launch of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) many landowners will have found themselves contacted by developers or agents purporting to act on behalf of developers.

The NPPF has now been in existence for over 12 months and during that time parcels of land have received planning consent that ordinarily would have been considered to be at best long term hopes.

What has actually happened is that through previous planning decisions at a strategic national, regional and indeed local level, the supply of housing land has somewhat dried up. For example in the North West of England there was a moratorium upon development during the mid 2000’s and this has created a “double whammy” effect with several local authorities having a supply of housing land well below what is required of them.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) is my professional body and regardless of your location in the country you should aim to seek advice from one of my fellow members if you are approached, even if you are approached by someone who is purporting to be acting on your behalf. It is important that you receive independent and fair representation from properly qualified individuals and firms.

Tying your land up for many years with the promises of riches at the end may be good however there are a number of indicators that land values for residential development are going to fall over time. Although house prices may be increasing, costs are increasing and at present this is occurring at a rate quicker than the house price growth. Increase costs include Community Infrastructure Levy increased build quality based upon the Code 4 Sustainable Homes and the general increase in the cost of building and provision of infrastructure.

For further information please contact David Cowburn BSc (Hons) FRICS FAAV, Senior Partner at Armitstead Barnett