09 Apr Brighton Planning Standards, Sustainability & New Homes Applications
We have just submitted a planning application for 2 small new houses in Brighton.
This extract from the 25 March Ministerial Statement on Planning Policy looks like a straightforward withdrawal of Local Planning Authorities authority to require a certain Level of Code for Sustainable Homes in new houses:
……..local planning authorities and qualifying bodies preparing neighbourhood plans should not set in their emerging Local Plans, neighbourhood plans, or supplementary planning documents, any additional local technical standards or requirements relating to the construction, internal layout or performance of new dwellings. This includes any policy requiring any level of the Code for Sustainable Homes to be achieved by new development; the government has now withdrawn the code, aside from the management of legacy cases………
However, Brighton & Hove City Council tell us that following their own legal advice they are maintaining their current requirement for new houses on greenfield sites to be Code Level 4 as the governments full statement is unclear.
The Government are though still committed to implement a zero carbon target for all new homes on sites over 10 units, in 2016.