Chapter 4: Grant and Implementation of Planning Permission Chapter 6: Other Provision Section 123 Duty to grant sufficient planning permission for self-build and custom housebuilding Background
This section amends section 2A (duty to grant planning permission etc) and section 4 (regulations) of the Self-Build and Custom Housebuilding Act 2015 (‘the 2015 Act’). The 2015 Act places a statutory duty on relevant authorities to hold a register of people who want to acquire land to self or custom build in their area and to grant planning permission for enough plots of land to satisfy that demand. Further regulations, the Self-build and Custom Housebuilding (Time for Compliance and Fees) Regulations 2016 (‘the 2016 Regulations’), set out that authorities must meet this demand (i.e. grant sufficient planning permission) within 3 years.
	Section 2A of the 2015 Act states that a relevant authority ‘must give suitable development permission in respect of enough serviced plots of land to meet demand… ’, and that a ‘development permission is "suitable" if it is permission in respect of development that could include self-build and custom housebuilding.’ This wording has created some ambiguity regarding what planning permission can be counted by a relevant authority towards meeting demand for plots (demand as defined in section 2A(6)(a) of the 2015 Act). This has led to planning permissions that are not necessarily for self and custom build housing being counted towards meeting local authority targets.
	Additionally, the 2016 Regulations set out that authorities have 3 years to grant sufficient permissions to meet demand on their register in any ‘base period’. The 2015 Act and 2016 Regulations were silent on what happened to any demand that was not met (i.e. sufficient planning permissions granted) within that period. This meant the obligation to meet this demand may not be discharged.
	This section makes the legal position clear and explicit regarding what planning permissions should be counted to satisfy the demand for self–build and custom housebuilding by a relevant authority. It gives the Secretary of State the power to define, in regulations, the types of development permission that may be counted, to ensure that only planning permissions that are specifically to be built out for self or custom build (for example via a planning condition or obligation) qualify towards meeting demand.
	This section also creates a requirement that any demand that has not been met by an authority within the 3-year compliance period will be rolled over and will remain an obligation for the authority to meet after the compliance period has elapsed.