Government accelerates plans to build 1.5m homes in updated National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)

Following our response to the last National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) consultation (which you can find here), the UK Government has now published further details of what it is calling an “overhaul of the planning system”.

The main focus of the government’s planning policy revisions, which were published on 12 December 2024, is to accelerate the planning process so that 1.5m homes can be built over the next five years. The acceleration is largely fueled by mandatory higher housing targets for local authorities, a promise of 300 new planning officers across the country with a cash injection to help pay for (and hopefully train) these new recruits and, crucially, changes to planning policies.

These new policies can be found in the updated National Planning Policy Framework and include:

• Immediate mandatory housing targets for councils, so that together, they deliver circa 370,000 new homes each year
• Targets for housing numbers in each planning authority will be set according need based on ‘highest unaffordability for housing and greatest potential for growth’ so any areas which fall within this criteria will have higher targets to meet
• Local councils must adopt up-to-date local plans asap, or develop new plans that work for their communities
• A ‘common-sense approach’ will be introduced to the greenbelt. A brownfield first approach will continue to be favoured, however the updated NPPF requires councils to review greenbelt boundaries in order to meet targets. This will include identifying and prioritising lower quality ‘grey belt’ land too
• Councils and developers will be required to include more social rented accommodation when building new developments, with local authorities being granted greater powers to build ‘genuinely affordable’ new homes for those who need them most
• Any development within the greenbelt must abide by the new ‘golden rules’, which require developers to provide the necessary infrastructure for local communities, e.g GP surgeries, transport links and so on, as well as social and affordable housing

• Brownfield first
• Grey belt second
• Affordable homes
• Boost public services and infrastructure
• Improve genuine green spaces

The prime minister said as part of his announcement on the NPPF that: “Following consultation, areas must commit to timetables for new plans within 12 weeks of the updated NPPF or ministers will not hesitate to use their existing suite of intervention powers to ensure plans are put in place.”

The above comment does raise some questions and concerns over how involved ministers may become in the planning process. Indeed paragraph 126 of the new NPPF does seem to encourage the use of compulsory purchase powers where this may help to accommodate new developments.

More in-depth analysis of the new NPPF and what it means for our members will follow in due course. However, our initial reaction remains very much the same as our response to the consultation, in that we welcome a review of the greenbelt if this leads to more sustainable rural communities through a small number of homes being built in a large number of locations. The CLA remains skeptical as to how much difference 300 new planning officers may make to local authorities’ ability to review and process the large volume of planning applications they receive.

We are intrigued by the new ‘golden rules’ and await to see how they will be applied in practice, especially if the applications received do not necessarily follow the preference order. For example, if a council receives more applications for housing on non-brownfield site than applications which would utilise existing brownfield sites, how will the golden rules interact with the government’s mandatory 370,000 homes per year target?

Finally, we are disappointed that no further amendments or announcements have been made which would support the rural economy in a non-housing related way. Paragraph 88 - Supporting a prosperous rural economy - remains unchanged and yet, as we know, many farms continue to need to diversify in order to survive, and planning remains one of the biggest barriers to this.

As ever, if you have any planning related questions or queries, please do contact your regional office where a team of advisers are ready and waiting to assist.