Govt publishes ‘landmark overhaul’ of NPPF
Councils will have 12 weeks from today to ensure new local plans are up-to-date with the revised National Planning Policy Framework, which reintroduces mandatory housing targets, requires Green Belt reviews, and increases the number of years for which authorities must demonstrate a housing land supply.
The revised NPPF is meant to enable the government to achieve its goal of delivering of 370,000 homes a year, with 1.5m homes in total being built during this Parliament.
Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner said: “From day one I have been open and honest about the scale of the housing crisis we have inherited.
“This mission-led government will not shy away from taking the bold and decisive action needed to fix it for good.”
Speaking specifically about the revised NPPF, Rayner said: “Today’s landmark overhaul will sweep away last year’s damaging changes and shake up a broken planning system which caves into the blockers and obstructs the builders.
“I will not hesitate to do what it takes to build 1.5m new homes over five years and deliver the biggest boost in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation.”
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Savills has created a handy chart for digesting the big changes to the NPPF, which you can see below or download. As a note, the standard method has been “largely unchanged”, rather than “unchanged”.
Here is a slightly longer rundown of three major changes in the new NPPF.
The return of housing targets
Mandatory annual housing targets are officially back, but with a big caveat.
Many towns and more rural areas have a steep increase in the number of homes expected to be delivered, with Redcar and Cleveland’s target increasing from 45 to 642. In Yorkshire, Doncaster Council’s target will rise from 536 to 1,053. Similarly, in the North West Westmorland and Furness Council will go from having to deliver 227 homes to 1,430.
The allocation for the totality of the North is 77,452 homes to be delivered a year. Last year, the region only saw 55,912 homes built.
Green Belt, Grey Belt, and brownfield
Local authorities will need to closely examine their current Green Belt designations, with the goal of spotlighting any potential Grey Belt opportunities. Grey Belt would be Green Belt sites that are of lower quality – essentially sites that have had previous development on them.
Grey Belt is formally defined in the NPPF as previously developed Green Belt land that does not “check the unrestricted sprawl of large built-up areas” or “prevent neighbouring towns merging into one another” or “preserve the setting and special character of historic towns”. Grey Belt also “excludes land where the application of the policies relating to the areas or assets… would provide a strong reason for refusing or restricting development.”
These sites are to be deemed as possible locations for housing, employment, and industrial development.
Should a developer go the Grey Belt route, though, they will have some “golden rules” to follow.
These protected pieces of land have increased regulation aimed at encouraging the delivery of social and affordable homes, as well as requirements for infrastructure to be included in the application. This includes the building of nurseries, GP surgeries, and transport links.
Though Grey Belt offers the potential for more Green Belt release, the new NPPF still prioritises brownfield land as the preferred route for delivery.
Local plan pre-eminence
Gone are the days when councils could delay delivering a local plan. The new NPPF provides government with more powers to ensure councils adopt up-to-date local plans.
Local authorities will have 12 weeks to commit to a timetable to ensure new local plans are compliant with the new NPPF. The new NPPF will apply starting on 12 March.
The revised NPPF also requires older local plans – ones that will still be in place from July 2026 onwards – to be adjusted to show a six-year housing supply rather than the customary five.
While details are lacking, a press release announcing the changes threatened that “ministers will not hesitate to use their existing suite of intervention powers to ensure plans are put in place”.
When local plans and spatial development strategies are crafted, they will need to be accompanied by a sustainability appraisal demonstrating how the plan will meet goals for the economy, society, and environment. If these three areas are to be impacted negatively by proposed development, there must be mitigation measures put into place.
To help councils with the delivery of local plans and their Green Belt reviews, the government has created a £14.8m fund. Those local authorities who want assistance will have to submit an expression of interest to the government by 17 January.
‘Builders, not blockers’
Prime Minister Keir Starmer voiced his support for the planning changes.
“With a generation of young people whose dream of homeownership feels like a distant reality, and record levels of homelessness, there’s no shying away from the housing crisis we have inherited,” he said.
“We owe it to those working families to take urgent action, and that is what this government is doing,” Starmer continued.
“Our Plan for Change will put builders not blockers first, overhaul the broken planning system, and put roofs over the heads of working families, and drive the growth that will put more money in people’s pockets.”
The new NPPF is just one element of the government’s strategy for increasing housing delivery. Another is the Planning Reform Working Paper, which outlines a series of changes to how planning committees operate.
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