REDEFINING BOUNDARIES AND PRIORITISING HOUSING: THE NEW NATIONAL PLANNING POLICY FRAMEWORK

Planning professionals at Harris Lamb have been studying the much-anticipated new planning policy guidance for England, which was published by the Government last week.

The business said that in the biggest reform of the planning system for more than 10 years, the updated National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) includes a requirement for councils to redefine Green Belt boundaries in order to meet their housing needs, identifying lower quality Grey Belt land after an initial focus on brownfield sites.

Jolande Bowater, Planning Director, said: “As expected, the final version of the Framework differs from the draft, and we are currently reviewing and interpreting the new policies in order to best advise our clients on promoting and optimising their land interests.”

Jolande said one of the key issues moving forward was that of mandatory new housing targets for all local authorities, along with the change to Green Belt policy and the introduction of Grey Belt land.

“The draft framework had alluded to the introduction of Grey Belt in light of the need to address the ongoing UK housing crisis and a more refined definition of it has been eagerly awaited since the idea was mooted,”said Jolande.

“We have now been given clarity on this. The definition of Grey Belt is land that does not contribute to three of the five purposes of Green Belt, those being urban sprawl, the merging of neighbouring towns and the preservation of the setting and special character of historic towns,”

“There has also been the introduction of new Golden Rules for major development on land released from Green Belt. The Golden Rules require contributions to affordable housing, improvements to local and national infrastructure and provision of new and improvements to existing green spaces.

“For planning applications in the Green Belt, the Golden Rule for affordable housing is now a requirement for provision to be 15% above the highest existing affordable housing requirement which would otherwise apply to the development, subject to a cap of 50%.”

While the full NPPF can be viewed here, Jolande said that other key points within the new guidance are:

• Changes to the calculation of housing land supply – this is to include a 5% for choice and competition, a 20% buffer for significant previous under-delivery, and from 1^st July 2026, another 20% buffer decision making purposes where a local authority’s housing requirement was adopted in the last five years against a previous version of the Framework and is 80% or less than the new housing figures for the authority.
• Stronger support for suitable brownfield land – the Framework now says proposals should be approved, unless substantial harm would be caused, whereas the draft guidance stated such proposals should be ‘acceptable in principle’.
• Beautiful remains in the quest to achieve well-designed places.
• A change to the transitional arrangements  –less onerous than the draft suggested, the policies in the revised Framework will apply to all LPAs from 12^th March 2025 except where the plan:

–  has reached Regulation 19 stage with 80% of the new Standard Method need,
–  has been submitted for examination on or before 12^th March 2025,
–  includes policies to deliver the level of housing set out in a preceding local plan adopted since
March 2020,
–  has reached Regulation 19 stage where there is an operative Spatial Development Strategy, or
–  is a minerals and/or waste plan and has reached Regulation 19 stage or been submitted for
examination.

Jolande said: “Effectively, this means that all LPAs who rushed to reach Regulation 19 stage or to submit their plans in the last few weeks are now exempt from the new numbers and guidance, and can be examined under the previous version of the Framework, although for any plans that have been submitted and do not meet at least 80% of the new housing requirement, local authorities will be expected to begin work on a new local plan.

“As a result of this new Framework, we are closely monitoring the fast-changing plan-making scene across the wider Midlands area, in particular those authorities who have sprung into action in the last few months publishing plans or hurriedly submitting them for examination.”

Paul Barton added: “The new NPPF has strengthened the commitment to achieving the transition to Net Zero by 2050, which is consistent with the approach the Government has taken when determining renewable projects during its first few months in office. However, the National Policy Statements for energy infrastructure set out there is a ‘Critical National Priority’ for low carbon development, and I consider there is a missed opportunity not to repeat that wording in the NPPF.”

For further details and support, contact Harris Lamb’s Planning Consultancy team: jolande.bowater@harrislamb.com, simon.hawley@harrislamb.com, paul.barton@harrislamb.com, sam.silcocks@harrislamb.com, or john.pearce@harrislamb.com.