These past couple of weeks I’ve been allocating time to read through the latest Local Development Plan for the area I live and invest in. It’s not for the faint hearted, we’re talking 200 plus pages! In whatever part of the UK you invest, the local authority will have prepared and published a vast amount of research that will significantly help inform your property investment decisions. Reading through your Local Development Plan (LDP) and speaking to the Housing Department of the Local Authority is a great place to start.
This little post will help explain what the LDP is, what you can expect to learn from it and importantly, where you can get your hands on it.
WHAT IS IT?
Planning authorities are required to prepare a Development Plan to set out a planning strategy and policies to guide the future development of their area. The Development Plan explains where new developments such as housing, business and retail are likely to be supported and where certain types of development should not occur. It provides a framework against which development proposals can be prepared and assessed.
WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT TO LEARN
Here are some key areas of insight you can expect:
*The spatial strategy element of the LDP sets out key locations for growth – this will highlight where the majority of new development will be in the county and reflect the geography of opportunities for the location of new housing.
*These plans will point out the areas of housing construction, and with that comes potentially new schools, employment opportunities, community centres and renewable energy projects, as well as infrastructure and associated works.
*The Local Housing Strategy will highlight housing unit requirements per annum and the reasons why.
Population / Household Change – Referring to National Records of Scotland or The Office for National Statistics will provide population projections in your area along with household growth, which will either provide comfort or otherwise in regards investing in that area.
*Economic Development / Tourism – A member of the Economic development team will hold a calendar of all your regions events and key contacts, which should enable you to effectively target potential guests in respect of the tourist market.
*Health and Social Care – this part of the plan brings some understanding of the projected demands for healthcare with existing services will highlight projects like community hospitals and possible care villages.
WHY IT’S ALL RELEVANT TO YOU
*If you are choosing the strategy of single let or HMO’s you will want to better understand the population growth patterns, potential reasons for demand and the most suitable areas based on this.
*If you are developing apartments or houses to sell, you will want to understand the areas where such developments are required and where planning policy will encourage it rather than hinder it.
*If you are operating Serviced Accommodation, you will want to understand the Tourism trends in the region and other potential reasons for a sustainable demand in short stay accommodation (ie what development is bringing contractors to the area?)
*If you are planning to invest in commercial or mixed use property, you will want to understand the plans for each respective High St or industrial area in your region. You will want to understand what mix of commercial use class the Councils want to encourage or minimise and how they want to make their town centres viable.
A bit of upfront reading and understanding of your local area could have massive benefits to your investing.
WHERE TO FIND THE LDP?
If you simply google ‘Local Development Plan’ along with the name of your local Authority area, you’ll be able to find the page of your Council’s website where these documents are published.
As a final note, I’m sure being in touch with all the above is similarly of interest to you as a resident in your local area.