Court of Appeal rules on emerging plans, the standard method and out-of-date policies (Oxton Farm v Harrogate BC)

Table of contents

• What are the practical implications of this case?
• What was the background?
• What did the court decide?
• Case details

Article summary

Planning analysis: Oxton Farm v Harrogate BC concerned a challenge to a grant of planning permission for 21 houses and a shop in a village where new housing was not generally permissible under restrictive policies in the adopted development plan. The Court of Appeal held that Harrogate had been entitled to treat those policies as ‘out of date’ by reference to the proposed new housing requirement in its emerging local plan and was not obliged to reassess local housing needs using the new standard method and the latest household projections from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Written by John Hunter, barrister at Kings Chambers and counsel to the respondent.