Since coming into power in July 2024, the government has been clear that planning reform is critical to economic growth – and that includes long overdue revisions to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).
A consultation on proposed changes, conducted last year, signified the government’s intent to make substantial changes to national planning policy: including reinstating housing targets, introducing the concept of grey belt land, and removing references to beauty.
With the input of a number of our members, we responded to the consultation in September, before the revised NPPF was released in December 2024.
Many of the revisions in the updated version are aligned to our recommendations and have the potential to effect beneficial change in the planning system, if carried out well and buoyed by the necessary resource. Here, we unpack some of the changes that line up with our positions.
From beauty to “well-designed”
Changes made to the NPPF by the previous government in 2023 to place greater emphasis on beauty have now been reversed – a move that we have long called for.
The decision to remove some references to beauty to ensure a focus on good design, while retaining references to beauty as a strategic objective of the planning system, is welcome. With beauty being a subjective concept, promoting an emphasis on “well-designed places” is likely to have a positive impact on the quality of development being brought forward without sacrificing aesthetic considerations.
Housing land supply
The need for local authorities to demonstrate a five-year housing land supply (5YHLS) has also been reinstated in the latest version of the NPPF, in line with our response to the government’s consultation.
Revisions made in 2023 scrapped the need for local authorities with up-to-date local plans to demonstrate a 5YHLS, leading to concerns that there may be knock-on impacts in terms of ensuring that suitable land is brought forward for development.
We have raised that the reinstatement of the 5YHLS, while welcome, must not be used to bring forward poor-quality development. We were therefore pleased to see the government acknowledge in its official response to the consultation that “there can be no trade-off between supply and quality...as we act to allocate more land for development”.
Grey belt development
The revised NPPF formally introduces the concept of previously developed grey belt land situated within the Green Belt.
It also clarifies that land which “strongly contributes” to checking unrestricted sprawl, preventing the merging of neighbouring towns, and preserving the character of historic towns, is not classified as grey belt.
We have previously supported measures to unlock grey belt land to support high-quality development, while still prioritising suitable brownfield land through the government’s “brownfield-first” policy.
Utilising previously developed land to help to meet housing need is encouraging, and we will continue to monitor the impact of this change.
Social housing
As our recent report, Foundations for the Future, sets out, there is an urgent need to facilitate social housing provision across the country.
As such, we’re pleased to see the government decide to move forwards with its proposed change to the NPPF – which now explicitly includes an expectation that local planning authorities (LPAs) should consider the needs of those who require social rent homes.
It is vital that social housing is delivered at a scale that meets need – and there is a crucial role for architects in this process to ensure that all new homes are high quality and sustainable. Local authorities must be allocated significant investment from central government - not only to deliver housing directly, but to close the existing skills and capacity gaps in LPAs.
There are no signs of slowing down as we enter 2025, with the Planning and Infrastructure Bill scheduled to be brought before Parliament early in the year alongside several consultations in the housing and planning space.
Our Policy and Public Affairs team continue to work hard to ensure that high-quality, sustainable design is at the top of the government’s agenda.
