Matt Morris of Nexus Planning on the new vision for town centre revivals

This includes the launch of the Pride in Place fund and the introduction of high street rental auctions for vacant property. These initiatives seem to be led by a view in Westminster that the health of town centres can be either a vote winner or a vote loser.

The current consultation on the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) continues this theme, with subtle but important changes that emphasise the government’s commitment to town centres. The two changes that stand out as being most important are a sharper focus on town centre visions and strategies; and the return of the concept of disaggregation in the sequential test, under which a developer must consider whether a large, multi-element proposal could be divided across multiple town centre sites.

The new NPPF offers the opportunity for town centre change and evolution to occur

The new NPPF proposes emphasising the importance of a development plan having ‘a strategy for town centres’, with a central theme of promoting their ‘long-term vitality and viability’. When writing policies and allocating development sites, these two phrases should now be at the heart of all that we do. Importantly, this refocusing of policy gives the commercial property sector a better opportunity to influence and direct change in town centres.

With the new NPPF aiming to take on the burden of providing general planning policy, local plans can now be set free to concentrate on locally specific changes in town centres. For example, there is now clear encouragement for local authorities to use design guides, masterplans and design codes to support their vision for town centres.

Many of us with an interest in town centres will have had experience of town/city masterplans. However, many such plans have sadly fallen well short in terms of commercial realism and a clear delivery strategy. The new NPPF offers opportunities to avoid these past mistakes.

With a number of town and city centres facing a disconnect between current commercial floorspace stock, occupier demand and planning policy, the proposed NPPF changes represent a valuable opportunity for the commercial property sector to encourage the repurposing and redevelopment of existing floorspace.

Proposals to redevelop shopping centres and large areas of floorspace have faced difficulties under current planning policy, held back by a lack of a vision for change. In contrast, the new NPPF offers the opportunity for town centre change and evolution to occur in a more timely and efficient way.

It empowers the commercial property sector to help write that future strategy/vision, based on clear evidence of current market failures and explaining how and why greater land use diversity is the future for town centres. The much-heralded benefits of plan-making reform are not restricted to housebuilding. Town centres will benefit, too.

Return of disaggregation

Since the advent of the NPPF in 2012, the principle of disaggregation has fallen away. However, the new NPPF proposes the return of this principle to national planning policy. While this suggests further support and protection for town centres, it is not universally popular as a policy tool. Individual retailers may not be required to break up standard stores, but developers of multi-unit proposals could face a policy environment where multiple alternative sites have to be considered for their scheme’s individual component parts.

As a result, retailers and developers may fear an uncertain future, leading to an increase in demand for existing space as the pipeline of new supply falls.

Overall, while much of the political and media attention continues to be directed towards housing, the proposed changes to national planning policy suggest that town centres remain firmly in the government’s sights. The emphasis on long-term vitality and viability, coupled with the sharper policy tools available through strategy-making and the sequential test, indicates an intention to influence where and how commercial development comes forward.

For investors, developers and occupiers, the message is that town centres are once again a policy priority, but with that priority comes greater scrutiny and, potentially, greater intervention. As ever, those who engage early in the plan-making process, help shape the emerging vision and respond pragmatically to evolving policy requirements are likely to be best placed to navigate what remains an ever-changing landscape.

Matt Morris is a director at Nexus Planning