Planning matters

The Scottish Government recently amended Scottish Planning Policy (SPP) and introduced a new Planning Advice Note (PAN 1/2020 – December 2020). This was widely recognised as a move to avoid the tilted balance becoming a mainstay of the Scottish planning system and to direct the industry toward a standardised methodology for calculating the extent of a 5 year housing land supply (HLS) against housing land requirements (HLR). It was also acknowledged to be an interim intervention in advance of National Planning Framework 4 being approved, at which point it would be expected that these measures will be incorporated.