Section 2A — Housing and Planning Act 2016: Duty to grant planning permission etc

Duty to grant planning permission etc 2A 1 This section applies to an authority that is both a relevant authority and a local planning authority within the meaning of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (“ the 1990 Act ”).

2 An authority to which this section applies must give suitable development permission in respect of enough serviced plots of land to meet the demand for self-build and custom housebuilding in the authority's area arising in each base period.

3 Regulations must specify the time allowed for compliance with the duty under subsection (2) in relation to any base period.

4 The first base period, in relation to an authority, is the period—

a beginning with the day on which the register under section 1 kept by the authority is established, and b ending with the day before the day on which section 10 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 comes into force. Each subsequent base period is the period of 12 months beginning immediately after the end of the previous base period.

5 In this section “ development permission ” means planning permission or permission in principle (within the meaning of the 1990 Act).

6 For the purposes of this section—

a the demand for self-build and custom housebuilding arising in an authority's area in a base period is the demand as evidenced by the number of entries added during that period to the register under section 1 kept by the authority;

b an authority gives development permission if such permission is granted—

i by the authority, ii by the Secretary of State or the Mayor of London on an application made to the authority, or iii (in the case of permission in principle) by a development order, under section 59A(1)(a) of the 1990 Act, in relation to land allocated for development in a document made, maintained or adopted by the authority;

c development permission is “suitable” if it is permission in respect of development that could include self-build and custom housebuilding.

7 A grant of development permission in relation to a particular plot of land may not be taken into account in relation to more than one base period in determining whether the duty in this section is discharged.

8 No account is to be taken for the purposes of this section of development permission granted before the start of the first base period.

9 Regulations under subsection (3)—

a may make different provision for different authorities or descriptions of authority;

b may make different provision for different proportions of the demand for self-build and custom housebuilding arising in a particular base period.