Comment

Representation ID: 27766

Received: 24/03/2021

Respondent: Persimmon Homes (West Yorkshire)

Agent: Lichfields

Whilst the policy support afforded to self-build and custom housebuilding in national planning policy is recognised, delivering such plots are impractical for a volume housebuilder for a number of reasons, including difficulties in providing service connections and agreeing the various adoption agreements and standards, and ensuring satisfactory health and safety and construction management consistent with the wider site.

Provision for self-build opportunities are likely to be better supported on a smaller scale sites, incorporating windfall opportunities and/or Council owned land where such opportunities can be more easily incorporated.
Furthermore, given the number of sites yielding over 100 units proposed within the draft Local Plan, it is questionable whether there would ever be sufficient demand for the scale of self-build opportunities that this would generate. As such, providing for a minimum requirement solely on the larger, and defined ‘strategic sites’ would more appropriately deal with the national planning policy requirement to support self-build and custom housebuilding in line with the approach adopted by other nearby authorities, notably Harrogate and York.
It is therefore recommended that point c of policy HO6 be removed, with the remainder of the policy providing general support for self-build and custom housing where this can be provided in line with identified demand being and with regard to viability considerations and site-specific circumstances. If the provision of a minimum of proportion of self-build plots is to remain a policy requirement then this should apply only to the larger scale, strategic sites (400 units plus).