Housing Secretary Steve Reed approved planning permission for the 1,700-home Selwood Garden Community in Frome, Somerset on 2 April 2026, overriding a local council minded-to-refuse decision. The ruling followed a public inquiry held in August 2025 and a recommendation from Planning Inspector Stephen Normington to grant consent.
How the Call-In Powers Were Used
Call-in powers allow the Secretary of State to take planning decisions out of local authority hands and determine them centrally. Former housing secretary Angela Rayner triggered the process in February 2025, just 24 hours before a scheduled Somerset Council planning board meeting, after a majority of councillors voted to be minded to refuse. Steve Reed inherited the case and accepted his inspector's recommendation in full.
The government's decision letter stated there is "a pressing and compelling need to boost the supply of market and affordable housing" in the area (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, April 2026). The application, submitted by Land Value Alliances in August 2021 to what was then Mendip District Council, had been in the system for nearly five years before consent was granted.
The Stop Selwood Garden Community campaign group had opposed the scheme since 2021 on grounds of infrastructure pressure, loss of farmland and impact on natural habitats. Those objections were considered at the public inquiry but did not outweigh the inspector's findings on housing need.
What the Scheme Includes
The consented masterplan sits on agricultural land on the south-western edge of Frome. It includes 510 affordable homes - 30% of the total - alongside a primary school, two care homes, a mixed-use local centre, and 12 hectares (a unit of land measurement equal to roughly 29.6 acres) of employment land.
More than one-third of the site is allocated for green infrastructure, including community meadows, orchards, woodland, parks and allotments.
Reserved matters applications (the detailed design and layout submissions that follow an outline consent) will be required before any works begin. The full build-out is expected to run across a 15-year construction phase, taking the programme through to approximately 2041.
The Planning Risk and Cost Implications
The planning risk on this scheme has now moved from consent stage to delivery stage. A 15-year phased programme creates significant exposure to material cost inflation across the build cycle. Later phases will inevitably be priced against a different cost base than the original application assumed back in 2021.
The 30% affordable requirement is fixed in the consent. That proportion cannot be renegotiated without a fresh application, which limits the developer's ability to adjust margins if build costs rise sharply in mid-programme. Investors watching for new-build stock coming to market in Frome should factor the phased release schedule into their acquisition timing. Our property investment strategies hub covers how to assess new-build pipeline risk in detail.
For investors evaluating whether completed units will stack up as buy-to-let (BTL) assets, the BTL stress test calculator allows you to model rental yield against today's mortgage rates before committing. You may also wish to review our deal sourcing resources for guidance on identifying off-plan opportunities in large phased schemes.
Key Takeaways
• The housing secretary approved 1,700 homes in Frome, Somerset on 2 April 2026, using call-in powers after local councillors voted to refuse.
• 510 affordable homes are secured in the consent at 30% of total supply - fixed and non-negotiable without a fresh application.
• The scheme includes 12 hectares of employment land, a primary school, two care homes, and a mixed-use local centre.
• The construction programme runs to approximately 2041, meaning 15 years of phased delivery and corresponding build cost exposure.
• Reserved matters applications must still be submitted and approved before any spades go in the ground.
