Planning Policy – Plan Viability, CIL, Strategic Sites, Employment Land

Outline

AspinallVerdi were appointed by North York Moors National Park Authority (NPA) to provide economic viability advice in respect of the cumulative impact on development of the new Local Plan policies. The Local Plan replaces policies in the 2008 Core Strategy and Development Management Policies document and covers the period 2016 - 2035.

 Policies in the draft North York Moors Local Plan focus on allowing for a limited amount of infill development and encouraging rural exception sites to come forward. These sites are inherently unviable as the aim is to deliver 100% affordable housing through grant funding. Our study for North York Moors aimed to establish:

• How much grant is required for schemes of different sizes and in different locations to be viable;
• How the mix of affordable rented and low-cost home ownership affects scheme viability;
• How greenfield and brownfield sites compare in terms of the amount of grant needed to be viable; and
• What effect does the inclusion of Principal Residency dwellings have on the viability and the amount of granted required

Work Undertaken

Working in an iterative and collaborative manner with the Park Authority we:

• Conducted property market research across National Park;
• Completed a policy review of the emerging policies which impact viability;
• Developed a typologies matrix of site and scheme typologies of the development that is likely to come forward across the National Park;
• Carried out a stakeholder workshop;
• Completed detailed appraisals and sensitivity analysis.

Outputs

Our viability report identified that sites in the Western Fringes (higher value zone) were viable without grant funding subject to the tenure mix. The sites in other parts of the Authority were likely to require grant funding whatever the Affordable Housing tenure mix.

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