Opinion: Positive signs in revised National Planning Policy Framework

The long-promised review of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) has generally been welcomed by farmers and landowners.

It provides opportunities for some to go forward with their own projects and clears the way for others to sell land for housing, bringing cash into the business for potential reinvestment.

It will take time for the dust to settle and the details to emerge, but we are already seeing discussions taking place on the development of land for housing, and those longer-term opportunities being brought forward and looked at again.

See also: What fast-track development planning will mean for farms

It will take time for developers to be able to step up to these new opportunities and identify their priorities, and even longer, to actually get projects started with boots on the ground.

The government’s housing target has increased considerably, and we all know how challenging it can be to find skilled staff to cover existing needs.

While there will be a wide range of opportunities identified, caution also needs to be taken in dealing with approaches to farmland.

As we have seen before, the chance of making a “quick buck” will see some peripheral players get involved who only have their own interests at heart.

As always, it is essential for any farmers contemplating a development to use trusted advisers to make sure you are getting a fair deal, and not tying land up indefinitely by signing option agreements without proper timescales and performance criteria.

While housing makes the headlines, on-farm building and diversification projects also have the opportunity to be fast-tracked.

This will be welcome news for a farming sector that is constantly looking to find more income streams and can find the planning process overly complicated and expensive.

With drought declared in large parts of England, it is also good to see new reservoirs being included in the simplification of planning rules.

Of course, not everyone will welcome more development.

Tenants will be understandably nervous about landlords taking back farmland, and it is important that tenants are properly involved in any discussions that affect them and, at the very least, appropriately compensated.

There remains a wider concern over the potential loss of good agricultural land to development of whatever type as “they aren’t making any more of it”.

But in the overall context of the UK’s total farmland, the amount of good land lost is unlikely to significantly impact total production.

Hope and clarity

That said, quality farmland is a critical resource, so it is important that, where possible, particularly for energy and environmental projects, the productive quality of land is taken into consideration.

Developers have also been facing additional challenges with biodiversity net gain (BNG), with different local authorities often having differing approaches.

Again, the revised framework promises greater clarity in this area to support development and to simplify the process for farmers providing BNG for offset.

Land values have also been partially underpinned by rollover money, with farmers reinvesting development monies in farmland, often in new regions.

Supply and demand has been relatively balanced in recent years so there could be some caution if significant housing development brought new capital into the market, pushing prices higher.

The hope is that farmers can benefit from the positives in these revisions of the NPPF.

They should at least bring some greater clarity to what is possible and reduce the complexity of planning applications that farmers may make themselves.