Planning Objection Letters – Property values

This blog post concerns the role of property values in planning objections and whether these form a material planning consideration. The impact of a development on the property values, while of significant concern to homeowners, does not typically constitute a material consideration in the eyes of planning authorities and should not be a consideration to explore in planning objection letters. This distinction is not to diminish the genuine anxieties homeowners face but to clarify the framework within which planning decisions are made. Read on to know more…

Material considerations in planning objection letters

Planning law does not define the scope of material considerations and consequently they have to be derived from a number of sources. Material considerations are to be found primarily (but not exclusively) in the NPPF and circulars and in their Welsh and Scottish equivalents, development plan policies and court decisions. PPG acknowledges in para.008 (Determining a planning application) that the scope of what can constitute a material consideration is very wide.

Whether a particular consideration falling within that broad class is material in any given case will depend on the circumstances”. It also deduced from R v Westminster CC ex-parte Monahan 1989 that material considerations must be genuine planning considerations, i.e. they must be related to the development and use of land in the public interest.

Are property values a material consideration?

PPG ‘Determining a planning application’ confirms at paragraph 008 the long held position that the scope of what can constitute a material consideration does not extend to the protection of purely private interests such as the impact of a development on the value of a neighbouring property.

This advice normally excludes any argument relating to property values being material to a planning decision, and the matter is rarely articulated at appeal. However, in Lancaster 14/05/1998 DCS No 035-633-915 concerning a new prison at Middleton, the SOS stated in his conclusions that he was satisfied that there would be no harm to the commercial or property markets in the area, indicating that the matter had been given weight in the decision making process.

In Rank v East Cambridgeshire DC 2002, a decision to grant planning permission for the erection of two houses was challenged by an adjoining resident partly on the ground that an officer erred when he advised members that the impact on property prices was not a material consideration. It was argued that a previous court judgement (Friends Provident v SOS 2002) had established that the effect of a rival commercial developer’s business upon another’s business engaged Article 1 of the First Protocol of the Human Rights Convention and the same applied to the impact on the value of a neighbour’s property. The High Court rejected this argument and dismissed the challenge.

It is possible to envisage a situation where the environmental effect of a new use would be so catastrophic as to set off a chain of degeneration affecting the value of the whole of an area to the extent that this became a matter of serious land use concern. However, in nearly all cases it is the conventional tests of impact on planning policies and amenity harm to neighbouring uses or the character of an area as a whole that is the deciding issue and not any possible consequential effects on nearby property values.

Planning Objection Letters 

While an objection rooted in the potential decrease in property values might not sway the decision-making process, arguments centred on the development’s impact on traffic congestion, loss of green space, or inconsistency with the local development plan are more likely to be deemed material considerations. The effectiveness of a planning objection letter, therefore, lies not in the expression of personal or financial loss but in its ability to highlight conflicts with broader planning objectives and policies.

Moreover, the role of planning objection letters transcends the immediate context of a specific development proposal. These letters serve as a critical tool for community engagement, providing a formal mechanism through which the voices of those potentially impacted by development are heard. They offer a structured way for communities to articulate concerns, suggest modifications, or even propose alternative solutions that might better align with local needs and planning policies.

The strategic crafting of planning objection letters necessitates a nuanced understanding of the planning process, a grasp of local development plans, and an awareness of what constitutes a material consideration. It’s about weaving together a narrative that connects the proposed development with broader community impacts, sustainability issues, or policy inconsistencies.

Don’t sit back and let it happen —take action and make your voice heard!

Contact Planning Voice today.