Planning Speed Read – 29th November
29th November, 2024
Our regular update for those who work in and alongside the planning sector. We aim to keep you, and your teams informed of changes in legislation, important cases signposting to the guidance and providing our own insights and experience.
Court takes step to enforce mortgagee protection in 106
An interim high court injunction has been granted to Westminster City Council to ensure that 16 flats in a 60 home housing scheme remain affordable housing in accordance with a Section 106 Agreement after they were sold to an overseas real estate firm who attempted to evict the tenants.
Whilst the planning permission was granted in 2013, Kinsman, a previously registered provider was deregistered by the regulator of social housing after which their mortgagee sold the units on the open market to a Cyprus based real estate firm, Turanco Investments Ltd. The Council’s case is that the mortgagee exemption clause had ceased to apply at the point Kinsman sold to Turanco because the exemption was only operational in respect of a “registered” provider’s mortgagee and Kinsman had been deregistered by the time of the sale to Turanco.
A trial is due to take place to determine the outcome of the claim concerning the interpretation of the mortgagee exemption clause.
Mortgagee protection (sometimes referred to as Mortgagee in Possession or MIP) clauses are routinely used in 106s to protect the book value of affordable housing stock for securitisation purposes. It will be interesting to follow the underlying rational of the court once the matter is fully decided as depending on the outcome there may be invaluable drafting lessons take away.
To see the original planning application and access to the s.106 in question, please click here.
Planning for 1.5 million new homes – MP Matthew Pennycook’s response
Last week, Matthew Pennycook, Minister of State for Housing and Planning, was questioned on the Governments ambitious aim to build 1.5 million homes. This is now confirmed to be a whole Parliament target, which will not be annualised by interim targets. Pennycook has admitted to this goal being more difficult than expected, especially when the target will be vulnerable to things outside of the Governments control.
Pennycook has also highlighted key areas for improvement including the:
- Capacity of local planning authorities;
- Role of the New Homes Accelerator;
- Need for more planning permissions to be granted;
- Responses of statutory consultees;
- Capacity for central government intervention;
- Capacity of the construction workforce; and
- Need for local plans for local areas to shape development.
For more information, please click here.
Planning Inspectorate update – Topic Specific Statements of Common Ground (SoCG)
In planning appeals, parties can now include ‘topic-specific’ statements for more technical subjects including housing land supply, flood risk, noise and viability. Topic-specific SoCG’s will be supplementary to the main SoCG, with the opportunity for appellants to drill down further into specific detail as the witnesses prepare for the inquiry or hearing.
PINS have also included the following advice:
- The topic-specific SoCG should be signed and dated;
- The use of tables, bullet points and diagrams is encouraged;
- The use of headings and a formal structured approach is urged;
- Large documents or further new detailed evidence should not be appended.
For more information, please click here.
Please note that this briefing is designed to be informative, not advisory and represents our understanding of English law and practice as at the date indicated. We would always recommend that you should seek specific guidance on any particular legal issue.
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