Appeal success in Gotherington
McLoughlin Planning was delighted to succeed at the appeal for 45 new homes to be built in the Gloucestershire village of Gotherington, on the outskirts of Cheltenham. Appeal for 45 Homes in Gotherington. This appeal is now being referred to as a landmark appeal in terms of referencing Tewkesbury’s planned 5-year housing supply shortfall.
Five-year housing supply is a figure that is generated by Local Authorities to give the best guess on how many homes they need to create to meet future needs. The calculation is derived primarily from census figures and patterns in human reproduction and migration.
It’s an important calculation in our society because homes cannot and will not be created quickly enough if we do not have an idea of what the demand will be. In 2021/22 around 233,000 new homes were supplied, against a calculation that 340,000 are needed each year, of which 145,000 should be affordable. (https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7671/CBP-7671.pdf)
This is why one of the outcomes of this appeal is so significant. By Tewkesbury Borough Council admitting it does not know its 5-year housing supply figure (best guess is they have 3.39 years), it presents an opportunity for landowners in the Tewkesbury district to present their land for development, knowing they have at least one of the consideration factors on their side. Tewkesbury no longer has carte blanche to bat away applications on the basis of needs already being met.
In many respects, this is an uncomfortable lack of action on strategy on Tewkesbury’s part, which was demonstrated by McLoughlin Planning’s Managing Director Nathan McLoughlin ably supported by Joe Seymour at a challenging appeal on a site in Gotherington on behalf of https://www.lioncourthomes.com/ .
This demonstrates the skill the McLoughlin Planning team has in strategic development applications and at appeal. If you would like any advice or for Nathan McLoughlin to take a look at your land for an initial free assessment, please don’t hesitate to call us, email, or make an online booking.
