As we embark on a New Year it is always good to reflect on the year past. Whilst many are worrying about the uncertainties surrounding Brexit, others see it as an opportunity going forward.
Whatever happens over the coming months, and however turbulent the markets get, some things remain certain – business goes on and the UK housing crisis continues. Our broken housing system is one of life’s constants and shows no signs of being fixed soon; young families and many local people continue to struggle to find affordable homes. Record breaking year
Inspite of this backdrop, 2018 has been a record breaking year for JT Planning in terms of turnover and profitability. Importantly, it has seen us become involved in a diverse range of exciting new projects. The scale of the projects has also drastically increased.
We are currently advising on a scheme in Northumberland for 330 new homes and have just lodged a planning application for a large-scale distillery and visitor centre in Wooler.
We have won permission on behalf of our clients for several developments including a major expansion of Longframlington for Dacre Street Developments and a mixed-use development in Amble for Coble Developments. We have also secured commissions from The Cairn Group to advise on two hotel sites in Newcastle and Slough.
Our bread and butter work for small to medium size developers remains the same and counts for a large percentage of our work. We have worked on several edge-of-settlement developments within the smaller villages of Northumberland and we think this type of work is likely to continue into 2019.
Our geographical coverage also continues to expand. Although most of our work is North East based, we have advised on a range of applications and appeals in York, Buckinghamshire and London.
New opportunities in 2019
So, what does 2019 hold? We hope to continue being involved with a wide range of housing and commercial projects for our current client base. Elsewhere, JT Planning is enjoying other opportunities emerging within our newly formed surveying department. Kieran Atkinson, our land surveyor, has been working on a wide range of projects including survey work for a sensitive boundary dispute and topographical surveys.
We continue to be involved with several sites at the post-planning stages. We act for many land owners who simply want to see the value of their land increase with a planning permission. Once planning permission is secured the site is often offered to a developer or investor.
I am pleased to say that we’ve managed to arrange a number of site sales on behalf of land owners including a 40-unit housing scheme in Wooler and a housing development in North Northumberland. We hope these sorts of deals continue into 2019.
Local Plan for Northumberland
As well as political uncertainly nationally around Brexit, there is continuing concerns about the future development plan for Northumberland. During 2019 we expect Northumberland County Council to publish their new Local Plan. The draft version of this document was extremely disappointing and far less ambitious than the earlier Core Strategy. It will be interesting to see if the council has listened to the many objections that were lodged against the plan.
