Revised National Planning Policy Framework: Restoring stability

Whilst the revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) contains a number of potentially game changing new policy proposals, many of the changes aim to re-wind the clock to the pre-December 2023 version of the NPPF.

This is to encourage short-term growth through restored stability in the planning system.

This note covers the theme of ‘stability’, being one of the three pillars which the consultation exercise and the proposed changes to the planning system are intended to lean on to secure growth. The other pillars, are reform and investment.

The December 2023 changes to the NPPF were considered to be disruptive to the development sector and detrimental to housing supply. Recognising this, the government seeks to rapidly make the following amendments:

• Land supply: It is proposed that the controversial changes around five-year land supply that were introduced in December 2023 are reversed.
  
  Those changes had drawn much criticism for weakening the fallback route, which encouraged planning permission to be granted where plan policies are not up to date. Instead, the previous requirement to continually demonstrate five years of deliverable sites for housing, regardless of local plan status, is to be re-established.
  
  The 5% buffer will also be restored, and past oversupply will no longer be able to set against upcoming supply.

• Beauty: Multiple references to “beauty” and “beautiful” are to be deleted on the basis that the terms were widely considered to be subjective, difficult to define and risked causing in-consistency in decision-making.
  
  Policy and guidance on how to achieve well-designed places, as set out in the National Design Guide and National Model Design Code, is to remain instead.

• Density: The previous policy discouraging significant uplifts in density that would result in development out of character with the existing area (paragraph 130) is deleted. This is to be paired with strengthening expectations that local plans should promote an uplift in density in urban areas, to maximise the efficient use of land.
  
  Local authorities are also to focus on localised design codes and masterplans to deliver higher density development on areas with the most potential.

• Mandatory method: Paragraph 61 is amended to make clear that local planning authorities should use the new standard method to assess housing needs, by deleting reference to the exceptional circumstances in which the use of alternative approaches to assess housing need may be appropriate.
  
  This is to enforce the use of the new standard method and remove the uncertainty caused by the current NPPF, which has led to delays in new local plan adoption.

• Agricultural land clarification: The introduction of a footnote that made the availability of agricultural land for food production an explicit consideration in determining if sites are appropriate for development is removed.
  
  This is on the basis that the NPPF already contains an expectation that policies and decisions should recognise the benefits of best and most versatile land. It was also widely considered that the footnote added uncertainty as it gave no indication of how authorities are to assess and weigh the availability of agricultural land when making decisions.

• Planning fees: Although not a change to the NPPF, the government is also consulting on increasing planning fees for householder applications to cover the estimated funding shortfall of £262m for local planning authority departments.
  
  Whilst the fees will not be ring-fenced, it shows the government intends to make good on its promise to improve the resourcing and stability of local authorities – something which has been a real concern for many years.

It remains to be seen which of these proposed changes will be adopted post consultation.

However, the removal of some of the destabilising December 2023 NPPF changes, plus increased financial support to local authority planning departments is a welcome start and demonstrates the government’s commitment to get the country building quickly.