Scotland planning news, May 2021

 

The Scottish National Party (SNP) has won the Scottish election and continues to be the biggest party with 64 Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) elected, which is just one seat short of an overall majority. The result is similar to the previous Scottish election in 2016, as the Conservatives have 31 MSPs, Labour 22, the Greens 8 and the Liberal Democrats with 4. The result means the SNP will control the direction of travel for Scottish Planning in the next parliamentary term. The SNP manifesto included a number of key points relating to planning, housing, infrastructure and the environment.

• All housing will be zero carbon and have access to transport links, digital connectivity, outdoor space and community services
  
  
• Deliver an additional 100,000 affordable homes by 2032 and set a national objective to increase the amount of housing within town centres and high streets
  
  
• Publish a Retail Strategy and explore a national digital sales tax and use the revenue to “breathe life into town and city centres”
  
  
• Prioritise digital connectivity
  
  
• Bring forward land reform legislation including a Land Reform Bill that would include a pre-emption in favour of community buy out where title is transferred and legislation that will introduce land value capture
  
  
• Put in place a requirement for regional and economic bodies to assess planning proposals of regional and national importance
  
  
• Take forward plans for 20 minute neighbourhoods

• Invest £33 billion over five years into infrastructure which will be directed by a national infrastructure company to develop a Scotland-wide active travel network
  
  
• Funding totalling £1.3 billion will be provided for improving the rail network, £600 million for digital infrastructure, £500 million for bus infrastructure and congestion relief and £275 million for community led regeneration

• A new biodiversity strategy will be developed which will set aside £500 million for the natural economy and include 30% of Scotland’s land by 2030
  
  
• Establish a register of ancient woodlands and increase targets for new woodland creation by 50% to 18,000 hectares a year by 2025
  
  
• Aim to completely decarbonise the energy system by 2050 and have renewable energy accounting for 50% of energy consumption by 2030
  
  
• Support Carbon Neutral Islands, including pilots for some islands to run on 100 per cent renewable energy

In February, the Government announced that it is to introduce a levy that will be applied when developers seek planning permission to develop defined types of high rise building in England (only) (see Lichfields March England Planning News).

The levy is to help finance the funding that will support the cost of replacing unsafe cladding. It was announced alongside the Government’s funding plans for cladding remediation in England, which vary according to matters including the height of the building.

In the same announcement, the Government said it would introduce a new tax “for the UK residential property development sector” in 2022, which would also help to pay for cladding remediation costs.

The Government has now published a consultation on the design and administration of the new Residential Property Developer Tax (RPDT).

The proposed UK-wide tax would apply in Scotland. In March 2021, the Scottish Government’s Ministerial Working Group on Mortgage Lending and Cladding: report - March 2021 said:

The Group noted funding developments in England and support for remediation and leaseholders. The Group has not considered in detail models of remediation funding for Scotland, as this would need to follow the evidence and knowledge of overall availability of funds in Scotland from a variety of sources. Further detail is urgently required from the UK Government on the implications for Scotland of announcements made in February 2021.

The new tax will apply to the annual profit, over a £25 million allowance, that the biggest corporate undertakings make on residential property development activities. It is intended that profits made in relation to the development of affordable housing and build to rent models will fall within the scope of the RPDT. The government is still considering the extent to which student accommodation and retirement living will be included within the RPDT’s definition of residential property.

Hotels, residential homes, hospitals and hospitals, certain supported housing, armed forces accommodation, boarding school, accommodation for religious orders and prisons would not fall within the definition of ‘residential property’.

The RPDT will be time limited and is intended to come into force in April 2022. The Government hopes that the RPDT will help generate £2 billion over a decade, which will fund cladding remediation. The consultation is being used to help shape the RPDT before its insertion in the 2021-22 Finance Bill.

According to the consultation, views are sought on matters including:

• the definition of residential property and development activity, and two potential models for the tax
  
  
• potential impacts of the tax, including on housing supply and provision of affordable housing
  
  
• approaches to setting the rate and allowance
  
  
• the interaction with the new Gateway 2 levy

Consultation on the Gateway 2 Levy, in England, will follow “in due course”. According to the consultation “While the policies are targeted differently, the government recognises that it is possible that in some cases developers would be in scope of the levy for specific developments, and the tax on their profits. While it will be difficult to comment before the publication of more detail on the design of the levy, the government would like to seek initial views on the prevalence and potential impact of this overlap”.

The Consultation will conclude on 22 July 2021.

 

The Cairngorms National Park has formally adopted a replacement five year local development plan (LDP). The National Park is the largest in the UK and attracts two million tourists every year as well as housing 18,000 permanent residents. One of the key policies within the LDP is that 45% of homes in new housing developments located in Aviemore, Ballater, Braemar and Blair Atholl should be affordable homes, which is an increase of 20% from the previous requirement in the old LDP. Furthermore, a number of non-statutory guidance documents have been approved covering renewable energy, natural heritage, landscape, resources, open space and recreation and cultural heritage. The park’s board convenor Xander McDade said: “This new LDP will be good for the rural economy, for conservation and for visitors. There is the right balance between the amount of land set aside for development to deliver homes, jobs and services but with suitable protection for areas that are high in nature conservation or recreational value”.

 

The Scottish Government led a consultation on a new Air Quality Strategy which closed on 22 January 2021. The Government will use the results of the consultation to form its new Air Quality Strategy. The consultation analysis has highlighted that on the whole a broad level of support for the draft Strategy was evident, albeit a wide array of views were expressed during the consultation. One key takeaway from the consultation was that the vast majority of respondents agreed with the Governments placemaking Strategy which placed emphasis on the 20 minute neighbourhood concept and stressed that the concept should receive more attention going forward. In response to the transport section of the Strategy, there were several themes which developed. There was broad support for further investment in electric vehicle infrastructure as well as reducing the use of private cars in urban areas so alleviate congestion. It was also widely suggested that there should be greater encouragement for embracing alternative forms of transport such as cycling and rail travel, so that emissions from private car usage decrease.

Reducing Government expenditure on the development of roads in favour of promoting more active forms of travel and development of an active travel network across Scotland was also a prominent aspect of the consultation. The haulage industry was also identified as an industry that should receive practical and financial support to facilitate a transition to low emission vehicles. The Scottish Government has outlined that responses to the consultation will be considered during finalisation of the Strategy. The Scottish Government will also cover in the final Strategy developments related to various plans and policies which have taken place since the consultation was launched, including the Climate Change Plan update, NPF4, and National Transport Strategy 2.