Speculative planning warning after housing appeal

A council has been warned it could face an increase in speculative planning applications after an appeal over a controversial development revealed a weakness in its policy.

A 700-home estate in Brackley, Northamptonshire, was approved at appeal in October, despite concerns over traffic, infrastructure and the loss of farmland.

The inquiry heard the Reform-led West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) did not have a five-year housing land supply, which meant it had to set a higher bar for refusing applications.

Councillors at a planning policy meeting were told the system was "stacked for the developer" and it "expected" a rise in speculative planning applications as a result of the Brackley case.

Local authorities must produce an annual statement setting out how many homes they are likely to deliver at suitable sites, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

If they cannot demonstrate that they have enough housing sites to hit housing targets for the next five years, a "tilted balance" in favour of development is applied.

Planning officers and councillors must give more weight to an application's benefits against its adverse impacts.

WNC produced a report in June last year, which identified a five-and-a-half-year supply as of 1 April 2025, but the planning inspector at the appeal challenged the number of homes included and said its supply was about four years and seven months.

Richard Wood, head of planning policy at WNC, told councillors on Wednesday it was very difficult to provide firm evidence of the delivery of developments within a timescale, and there was no incentive or requirement for developers to engage.

"It's stacked for the developer the way the system operates, there's no doubt about it," he told members.

A report to members stated that an increase in speculative applications as a result of the Brackley decision was "expected".

A new housing availability assessment was under way and would be reported back to the committee in due course, councillors heard.

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