Huntingdonshire District Council has granted Permission in Principle (PiP) for between 5 and 7 new homes on a site in Cambridgeshire.

A key reason for the approval was the Council’s current shortfall in housing land supply.

Local planning authorities are required to demonstrate a five-year supply of deliverable housing sites. In this case:

  • The Council needs to show it can deliver 5,907 homes over five years

  • It currently has only 3.68 years’ worth of supply

Because of this shortfall, national planning policy requires decision-makers to apply what is known as the “presumption in favour of sustainable development.” In simple terms, this means planning permission should be granted unless the harm clearly outweighs the benefits.

The site lies outside the defined settlement boundary and would normally be treated as countryside. Under usual circumstances, policies restricting development in such locations could have led to refusal.

However, because the Council cannot demonstrate a five-year housing land supply:

  • Key housing policies are considered out-of-date

  • Reduced weight can be given to countryside and settlement boundary restrictions

  • The benefits of delivering new homes were given significant importance

The Planning Officer concluded that there was no clear harm that outweighed the benefits of providing additional housing.

Reflecting the urgency of improving housing supply, the Council reduced the usual three-year Permission in Principle period to two years, to encourage the development to come forward more quickly.

This approval highlights:

  • The strong weight currently being given to housing delivery in Huntingdonshire

  • The reduced influence of restrictive countryside policies where there is no five-year housing supply

  • The continued importance of national policy in decision-making

It also demonstrates that well-located sites on the edge of villages can still secure planning support where sustainable development can be shown.

We were pleased to work alongside PDG Architects in securing this approval.

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