Viable Options

The basis of this episode was a series of posts Sam Stafford spotted that Nick Cuff at Urban Sketch had shared on his Prop Views blog about the Parkhurst Road judgement and the implications thereof. Sam asked Nick if he would like to explore the themes that he writes about with another new friend of the podcast Jamie Ratcliff, and old friends of the podcast Gilian Macinnes and Anthony Lee. Jamie co-founded PlaceBase and is chair of the Housing Forum; Gilian advises LPAs on improving planning and place-making services and is presently Interim Assistant Director of Planning and Building Control at the Royal Borough of Greenwich; and Anthony is the Managing Partner at Quintic Advisory. In a conversation recorded online in July 2026 they talked, philosophically, about how to test viability through the planning process and the conflict inherent between a desire on the part of most landowners to maximise land value and a desire on the part of most policy makers to maximise planning gain. They talked more practically about how Parkhurst begat the London Affordable Housing and Viability Supplementary Planning Guidance, which led onto to talk of fast tracks, thresholds and emergency measures. Then towards the end they discuss what approach might work better than which we have now. Some accompanying reading. Parkhurst: The judgement nobody read but shut down the London land market for a generation Parkhurst Part 2: Before and After, Land Strikes and Practical vs Theory Parkhurst Part 3: The Age of Enforcement Viability – Elephant in the NPPF room? Small sites: Unlocking housing delivery Planning Anew The Cost of Building a House Building new homes not financially viable across half of England Some accompanying viewing. NPPF 2026: An Initial Look at the New National Planning Policy Framework Some accompanying listening. You Never Give Me Your Money (Take 36) – The Beatles  Any other business. If you enjoy the episode do please consider bolstering Sam's fragile self-esteem by leaving the podcast a nice rating and a nice review wherever you listened to it. Obviously though if you have not enjoyed it then please do not leave a review, but do please feel free to let Sam know why. Feedback on 50 Shades episodes is always welcome. If you have enjoyed to the extent that you feel compelled to share the podcast on one your social platforms then, if you tag Sam, you will be entitled to an exclusive and much-sought after 50 Shades of Planning mug. 50 Shades of Planning is the podcast by planners and for planners and so if you would like to use it as a platform for sharing anything you think that the sector needs to be talking about then you are also very welcome to get in touch with Sam via samstafford@hotmail.com or the 50 Shades WhatsApp Community.