Part 6: Planning in England Permission in principle and local registers of land Section 151: Local planning authority to keep register of particular kinds of land
This section inserts a new section 14A into the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. The new section enables the Secretary of State to make regulations requiring a local planning authority in England to compile and maintain a register of particular kinds of land either wholly or partly within that authority’s area. The Secretary of State intends to use the power to require local planning authorities which are responsible for deciding applications for housing development, usually the district council, to each compile a register of previously developed land in their area, commonly known as "brownfield land", which is suitable for housing development. The power might also be used to require local planning authorities to prepare other registers of land, for example, a register of small sites which would help promote self-build and custom housebuilding.
	Subsection (1) allows the Secretary of State both to prescribe the description of land (subsection (1)(a)) and to prescribe any criteria which the land must meet for entry in the register (subsection (1)(b)). The criteria prescribed by the Secretary of State could for example include that the land must be available already or in the near future for housing development, that it must not be affected by physical or environmental constraints that cannot be mitigated and that it must be capable of supporting five dwellings or more.
	Under subsection (2) the Secretary of State might, for example, require the register of brownfield land to be kept in two parts: the first part could list brownfield land suitable for housing which meets the prescribed criteria, and the second part could list land from the first part of the register which the local planning authority considers is suitable for a grant of permission in principle (see section 150) and which has additionally been through a process of consultation.
	In addition, regulations made under subsection (3) may provide that the local planning authority is permitted to include land in the register which does not meet all of the specified criteria, that is, land which would otherwise be excluded from the register. In the example above, the Secretary of State might exercise this power so that a local planning authority could enter land in the register where it considered it was suitable for housing development but it was only capable of supporting four dwellings or fewer. When exercising any of its functions under regulations made under new section 14A, the local planning authority will need to have regard to the development plan, national policies and advice and any guidance issued by the Secretary of State for the purposes of the regulations, see subsection (7). Therefore for example, if a piece of brownfield land had been designated for employment purposes in the local plan, the local planning authority would not enter it in the register as being suitable for housing.
	Subsection (4) sets out what the regulations may specify in relation to the register. For example, the Secretary of State may specify that certain descriptions of land are not to be entered in the register (subsection (4)(b)). This power could be used to provide that land which already has planning permission for new housing is to be excluded from the second part of the register as not being suitable for a grant of permission in principle.
	Subsection (4)(c) provides that the Secretary of State may allow for some discretion on the part of the local planning authority to exclude land from the register where they would otherwise be obliged to enter it in the register. The Secretary of State might provide for example that the local planning authority could exercise their discretion in exceptional circumstances such as where development of the land would be particularly controversial and the authority considers that development decisions should be made through the usual planning application route.
	The Secretary of State may also specify in the regulations, certain types of information for inclusion into the register alongside the entries (subsection (4)(e)). For example, the site reference, address, size, an estimate of the maximum number of dwellings that the site would be likely to support, and its planning status.
	Subsection (5) allows the Secretary of State to specify a description of land, in regulations, by reference to a description of land in national policies and advice contained in guidance. For example, the regulations could refer to the definition of previously developed land within the National Planning Policy Framework.
	The Secretary of State might use the power in subsection (6) to require a local planning authority to provide particular information to him in order to measure their progress towards compiling a register.
	Section 151(2) amends section 33 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. Under that section, the Secretary of State has the power to direct that Part 2 of that Act should not apply to the area of an urban development corporation. The amendment allows the Secretary of State additionally to disapply by direction any particular regulations made under new section 14A. If a direction were made disapplying Part 2 from the area of an urban development corporation, so that it did not have to prepare a local plan, it might not be appropriate for the urban development corporation to have to prepare a register of brownfield land under regulations made under section 14A. In addition, there might be circumstances in the future in which it is decided that Part 2 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 and certain regulations made under section 14A should apply to an urban development corporation, but not in their entirety.