A report by the National Trust called 'Positive Planning' examined 27 councils that have significant areas of countryside and discovered that two thirds are having their Local Plans challenged by "streetwise house builders who are gaming the system"
All of the councils had followed rules set out under reformed planning rules dating from 2012 and had a 'Local Plan' in place indicating how the area's housing needs would be met and where new homes would be built.
However the National Trust discovered 16 local authorities had seen their local plans, which set out where building can and cannot take place, challenged by housebuilders, with developers gaining planning consent to build new estates in areas of the countryside which had never been allocated for housing by the council.
Ingrid Samuel, historic environment director of the National Trust, said:
"This new evidence shows that the Government's plan-led system is too open to challenge from streetwise developers. In 2011 The Prime Minister assured us that the new system would give local people more of a say. But it seems that in some areas the local vision for development is being bypassed. The rules need tightening to prevent this from happening."
The Government's planning rule book, the National Planning Policy Framework, which reduced around 1,300 pages of planning rules into just 52 had enabled housebuilders to ignore the views of local communities.
Miss Samuel added:
"Sadly the NPPF is allowing developers to ignore the local communities it said would be at the very heart of its new approach. The communities we looked at are those that accepted the Government's challenge, and have made difficult choices about where new housing should and shouldn't go. Whilst we support the principle of building on brownfield land first, we recognise the need to build some homes in the countryside. But homes should only be built where land has been allocated for development by the local council and is supported by the local community."
Only last August, the Planning and Housing minister Brandon Lewis, whilst unveiling a £200million fund for towns and cities to prepare "brownfield" sites for new homes, to take the pressure off the countryside, said:
"There remains strong protection of the countryside and Green Belt. The best way for councils to send speculative developers packing is to have an up to date Local Plan. Eighty per cent of councils now have a published Local Plan."
The Coalition Government's "gift that keeps on giving" to British housebuilders was extended this week to include a subsidy for building 20% discounted new homes on brownfield land for first time buyers aged under 40. Unsurprisingly, over 30 housebuilders have already "signed up", no doubt eager for the decontaminated brownfield land, cleaned-up using Brandon Lewis' £200million fund paid for by the "hard working" British taxpayers.
