Whilst the Council's plan wide viability deems the policy generally viable, this can change over time and therefore the requirements as specified should also allow for flexibility where there are viability or practical considerations.

On schemes of 100 dwellings or more, Part 3 of the policy proposes the provision of 4% of dwellings as Part M, Category 2. This is an optional requirement of the Building Regulations, and it is considered that the evidence in the HEDNA 2017 used to underpin this requirement (paragraphs 9.24 and 9.25) may not be fully justified in terms of the requirements for Harborough District. The HEDNA only makes broad assumptions nationally and regionally about need, and the report highlights the doubts about the validity of even the regional figures.

It is also unclear how the proposed Part M Category 2 requirement relates to general housing need and the specialist housing which is proposed by Policy H4.