The Government’s consultation on changes to the NPPF and Housing Standard Method runs until 11.45pm on 24 September. We hope these FAQs will be helpful in giving you a straightforward and quick explanation of the proposed changes – before and after consultation. We have focused on the main areas of change.
If you want to look at the consultation yourself, here are some handy links:
- NPPF Consultation documents including: Consultation Document, track changed NPPF and outcome of revised method spreadsheet
-
Minister’s letter to the Planning Inspectorate - Local Plan Examinations
Housing Numbers and the Standard Method
|
Housing need
|
This is the amount of new housing identified as needed within local planning authority (LPAs) areas by central Government. It’s currently calculated using something called the Standard Method which was introduced in 2018. From this is derived the minimum local housing needs (usually an annual housing figure). This figure has always been the starting point for preparing your local plan. |
|
Housing Requirement |
This is the number of homes a Local Plan aims to provide during the plan period (also known has the housing target). It’s often shown as an annual figure to be delivered. As set out above, the housing needs are the starting point for identifying the housing requirement or target in the local plan which needs to be justified. |
|
Housing land supply |
This is the total amount of land identified for housing during a plan period and often includes a windfall allowance (unexpected sites coming forward). The NPPF requires LPAs to show a five year housing land supply (5YHLS) of sites or there will be a presumption in favour of sustainable development (see below). |
|
Housing delivery test |
The Housing Delivery Test introduced by the NPPF, is about delivery. It's an annual measurement of housing delivered in LPA areas. The measurement is percentage figure and compares the number of homes build over a three period with what the ‘relevant housing requirement’ (target) for the same three period was. The ‘relevant housing requirement’ will be the standard method if the Local Plan is over five years old. |
The Standard Method is uniform and technical means of calculating housing need nationally for each LPA. It is currently based on household projections for the area (based on the 2014 population projections produced by the Office for National Statistics) and adds an adjustment based on the affordability of housing within the area (comparing local house prices with local wages). A cap can sometimes be applied. An additional 35% is added to the figures for the 20 largest urban local planning authorities (by population).
The following changes are proposed:
- Calculating housing needs through a two-stage assessment. Stage 1 is to add 0.8% annually to the existing housing stock in the LPA area (0.8% is the average growth rate expected). Stage 2 is to add an affordability adjustment (increasing it from 0.25 to 0.6). So, areas with more expensive housing will have higher housing needs.
- The case for a housing stock-based approach is that it is more stable and predictable than using population projections as a basis.
- The proposed standard method still compares local house prices with people's job wages which are updated every March. (The current approach, uses workplace-based median house price to median earnings ratio produced by the Office for National Statistics).
- The proposed changes will remove the capping of the standard method.
- Removal of the urban uplift of an additional 35% added to the figures for the largest 20 (most populous) urban LPAs.
For most councils (91%) their housing needs will increase under the new standard method. Of these, 69% would increase by over 200 homes per year. The aim of this is to help deliver the Government’s stated aim to deliver 1.5 million new homes.
Housing needs have always been the starting point for plan-making.
The change is that the standard method should be the basis for establishing need with no alternatives for using another method. However, the new housing needs will not be binding, instead they will be a starting point for LPAs in preparing their local plans. LPAs will be required to consider and justify (with evidence) local circumstances to set their housing requirement (or target) in the local plan.
Evidence of a 5-year housing land supply is normally given in a table/ spreadsheet setting out sites identified - when they are expected to be commenced and completed in the next five years against the annual housing target. When councils are unable to demonstrate a 5YHLS the presumption in favour of sustainable development (the titled balance) is triggered. This means that speculative applications (on unallocated sites) are more likely to be successful as they will be assessed against policies in the NPPF and policies in the local plan.
The National Planning Policy Framework in December 2023 introduced two significant changes to land supply.
- Local planning authorities with an up-to-date local plan (less than 5yrs old or more than 5yrs having undergone a review found updating not needed) no longer needed to continually demonstrate a 5yr housing land supply until the local plan became out-of-date.
- Local plans that were advanced in preparation (either at Regulation 19 or a detailed Regulation 18 stage) only needed to demonstrate a 4yr housing land supply.
The consultation removes the two changes introduced in December 2023 (above).
Local Planning Authorities will again be required to demonstrate a five-year housing land supply, including when the Local Plan is less than five years old.
The consultation also proposes the removal of the ability to ‘fix’ a local planning authority’s land supply position via Annual Position Statements. This was a very rarely used mechanism and the removal is not generally seen as controversial.
The indicative housing needs figures generated by the new Standard Method have increased housing needs significantly. There's an increase in housing need in 91% of LPA areas, of those, 69% increase by more than 200 homes.
This, of course, will impact on 5YHLS unless you have an up to date Local Plan (e.g. less than 5yrs old or more than 5yrs having undergone a review). In which case, the adopted housing requirement/target will continue to be used as the basis of 5YHLS.
There are no changes proposed to how the HDT is set up and the penalties for not meeting the test remain the same. So, the Housing Delivery Test will continue to look at where delivery has fallen below the local planning authority’s housing requirement (or target) over the previous three years (looking backwards at completions). In summary these are:
a) where delivery falls below 95% the authority should prepare an action plan to assess the causes of under-delivery and identify actions to increase delivery in future years;
b) where delivery falls below 85% the authority should include a buffer of 20% to their 5yr housing land supply, in addition to the requirement for an action plan.
c) where delivery falls below 75% the presumption in favour of sustainable development applies, in addition to producing an action plan and applying a 20% buffer to the 5yr housing land supply.
The HDT will remain backwards looking, for instance the latest published spreadsheet is called the 2022 HDT. It measures housing delivery for the financial years 2019/20, 2020/21 and 2021/22. This means that any proposed changes to the standard method would not impact the HDT until the 2025 HDT which would cover the financial years 2022/23, 2023/24 and 2024/25.
Green Belt
The Green Belt is designated in 15 areas in England and covers approximately 1.6 million ha.
Source: https://www.planning.data.gov.uk/map/?dataset=green-belt
The main aim of Green Belt policy is to prevent urban sprawl by keeping land permanently open. While the Green Belt may overlap with environmental designations or landscape character areas it’s not a countryside, landscape or environmental designation. The Green Belt may include brownfield, previously developed land (PDL) and greenfield land located around the edges of urban areas. Regardless of land type, quality or use, the essential characteristics of the Green Belt are its openness and permanence.
There are no changes proposed to the five purposes of Green Belt set out in paragraph 143 of the NPPF:
- To check the unrestricted sprawl of large built up areas;
- To prevent neighbouring towns from merging into one another;
- To assist in safeguarding the countryside from encroachment;
- To preserve the setting and special character of historic towns;
- To assist in urban regeneration by encouraging the recycling of derelict and other urban land.
That local authorities be required to review Green Belt boundaries where they cannot meet housing, commercial or other development needs, including needs of gypsy’s and travellers. This is likely to mean carrying out a Green Belt Assessment.
The Government wants to take a strategic approach to Green Belt release, through a sequential policy approach which directs development to sustainable locations on brownfield land. This is followed by land classified as grey belt and then to higher performing Green Belt land. Protections for land covered by environmental designations will be maintained.
It is proposed that Grey belt is defined in Annex 2 of the proposed NPPF 2024 as:
“For the purposes of plan-making and decision-making ‘grey belt’ is defined as land in the Green Belt comprising Previously Developed Land and any other parcels and / or areas of Green Belt land that make a limited contribution to the five Green Belt purposes (as defined in paragraph 140 of this Framework – see above), but excluding those areas or assets of particular importance listed in footnote 7 of this Framework (i.e. other than land designated as Green Belt).”
Footnote 7 includes important protected habitats, landscapes, heritage assets and areas at risk of flooding or coastal change.
Golden rules are new. They aim to ensure that any development within the Green Belt (or land released from the Green Belt) contribute to affordable housing need, infrastructure and environmental improvement.
The NPPF changes proposed say, where Green Belt is released through plan-making or decision-making:
- At least 50% affordable housing should be provided, with an appropriate proportion being Social Rent, subject to viability:
- Necessary improvements to local or national infrastructure are factored in; and
- There is the provision of new, or improvements to existing, local green spaces that are accessible to the public,
Its proposed that the Golden Rules will apply to the land after it is released from the Green Belt.
It is stated that strategic planning is fundamental to the review of Green Belt boundaries. The NPPF 2024 consultation proposals consider local plans as being the tool for amending detailed Green Belt boundaries.
Under the new proposed rules, if a scheme comes forward in the Green Belt - on brownfield land, previously developed land or land which aligns with the grey belt development - it may be approved where it meets grey belt definitions and limitations, and other policy considerations including sustainable development.
The NPPF still says that development should not fundamentally undermine the function of the Green Belt over the plan area and must satisfy the golden rules.
Strategic Planning
Strategic Planning is planning on a larger than local level across local planning authority boundaries. Its purposes are to help deliver strategic and cross boundary priorities such as housing, new towns, economic growth and strategic infrastructure. This is currently addressed through a mechanism called Duty to Cooperate (in the NPPF) – this is a duty to work with local authorities and other public bodies to meet unmet needs.
In the long term, the government is proposing to bring forward formal mechanisms, within appropriate geographies, to reintroduce strategic planning. It’s expected proposals for this will be brought forward through the Planning and Infrastructure Bill.
The aim is to enable universal coverage of strategic planning within the current Parliament. The consultation says “we will need to consider both the appropriate geographies to use to cover functional economic areas, and the right democratic mechanisms for securing agreement”. It does not suggest which organisation or tier of local government should oversee this process.
In the meantime, the government has said it will promote a more strategic approach to planning, by strengthening cross-boundary collaboration, ahead of legislation to introduce mandatory mechanisms for strategic planning. For the time being, Duty to Cooperate will continue to be in place and tested through Local Plan Examinations.
In existing mayoral combined authority areas the mayor is expected oversee the development of spatial development strategies (SDS).
Strategic Development Strategies (SDSs - like the London Plan) that are less than five years old will continue to provide the Local Housing Need numbers for emerging plans. In which case, the version of the NPPF that is applied depends on the status of the Local Plan. Accordion content.
Infrastructure
Alongside building more houses, the new Government prioritises the need to build the infrastructure needed to grow the economy. The proposals cover a range of different infrastructure, from new and emerging commercial technologies like laboratories, data centres and gigafactories (i.e. battery manufacturing plants), to freight and logistics, renewable energy and water reservoirs. The overall approach is to make it easier to build this new infrastructure.
The Government is proposing to change the NPPF to ensure planning better provides for the needs of laboratories, gigafactories, data centres and digital infrastructure as well as logistics. Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) will need to make specific provision for these developments in their plans and reflect these new priorities in decision making (on planning applications).
In terms of renewable energy, changes to the NPPF would give significant weight to the benefits of new renewable and low carbon energy generation. This will increase the likelihood of planning permission being granted on these types of development. LPAs will also have to pro-actively identify sites for renewable and low carbon energy in local plans.
Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) are defined in the Planning Act 2008 and are generally large-scale infrastructure schemes for energy generation and transmission, transport, water, waste and wastewater. Rather than approval by an LPA in the normal way, NSIPs go through a Development Consent Order (DCO) process, with the final decision made by the relevant Secretary of State. Some larger business and commercial schemes can also “opt in” to the DCO process and be treated as an NSIP, at the discretion of the Secretary of State.
The Government is proposing to amend the NSIP regime in three key ways:
- Broadening the range of developments that can opt into regime, allowing applications for laboratories, gigafactories and data centres to be treated as an NSIP at the discretion of the Secretary of State;
- Re-integrating large onshore wind schemes back into the NSIP regime, to enable more wind farms to be developed; and
- Raising the threshold at which solar and onshore wind schemes are determined as Nationally Significant, so that only larger developments are treated as NSIPs with the rest being determined by LPAs.
Importantly, the Government is also proposing to enable LPAs who host NSIPs to charge planning fees to developers. Currently, cost recovery requires an NSIP developer to agree a Planning Performance Agreement with a local authority for its planning services.
There are several amendments proposed to the NPPF to make it clear that significant weight should be given by LPAs to the importance of enabling new or expanded public service infrastructure. Specific reference will also be made to post-16 education and nurseries (i.e. early years) facilities, reflecting the importance of these issues to Government.
In terms of roads, Government is proposing to encourage a more “vision led” approach to transport with LPAs setting a vision for a place and the transport interventions needed for this. This is a move away from the “predict and provide” approach to road building and could enable LPAs to avoid refusing permission for new development on highway grounds.
Local Plan Transitional Arrangements
Flowchart
When the NPPF is updated, it will change the rules and requirements for Local Plans. Transitional arrangements provide a bridge between the current (Dec 23, current Standard Method) and new rules (expected to be published by the end of the year). It is hoped that this will ensure that Local Plans at a late stage of preparation can progress speedily towards adoption.
You can find the detailed proposals in Annex 1 (page 68) of the proposed NPPF. Remember this is a consultation and you’re invited to comment on these as well as the policy changes proposed in the NPPF. You have until 11.45pm on 24 September.
Local Plans at the following stages can continue to progress and be examined under the December 23 NPPF and current housing standard method (see paragraph 226):
- Local Plan is at Regulation 19 (pre-submission stage) on or before NPPF publication plus one month and within 200 homes of the published Local Housing Need figure (derived from the new Standard Method). Under the current proposals you will have until June 2025 to submit your plan for examination.
- Local Plan is a Part Two Plan which doesn’t include strategic policies setting the housing requirement. You will have until December 2026 to submit your plan for examination.
- Local Plan is submitted for examination (under Regn 22) on or before NPPF publication plus one month.
You will be expected to progress your Local Plan under the new NPPF and published local housing needs derived from the proposed new Standard Method. You will apply the policies in the published NPPF and have 18 months from the publication date to submit your plan for examination.
Yes, the Government has indicated it will make £10m available for evidence and consultation for plans at Regulation 19 (more than 200 homes above the new LHN) to help them adapt rapidly to the new NPPF and new Local Housing Needs.
You will need to prepare your plan under the new NPPF and published local housing needs derived from the new Standard Method. Under the proposals you’ll have until December 2026 to submit your plan for examination.
Matthew Pennycook, Minister of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government wrote to the Planning Inspectorate on 30 July 2024. In his letter he states an authority should not be submitting a ‘deficient’ plan for examination. So, plans should only be submitted that are capable of being found sound. He allows for a pause of up to 6 months to allow for additional work (at the discretion of the Inspector) and there should not be any fundamental issues of concern about soundness. He goes on to say that existing pauses already agreed by an Inspector should remain in place unless the Inspector considers there is insufficient progress being made.
He goes on to ‘strongly encourage’ the Planning Inspectorate to continue supporting local authorities through Advisory Visits to ensure effective preparation for the examination process. This letter takes immediate effect on all local plans.
The government is clear that the planning system will remain plan-led. However, policies in the new NPPF will be material considerations which should be taken into account in considering planning applications from the day of its publication.
In paragraph 225 it says that existing policies should not be considered out-of-date simply because they were adopted or made prior to the publication of the new NPPF. Due weight should be given to them, according to their degree of consistency with this Framework. It goes on to say that Plans may need to be revised to reflect policy changes which this Framework has made.
Strategic Development Strategies (like the London Plan) that are less than five years old will continue to provide the Local Housing Need numbers for emerging plans. The version of the NPPF that is applied depends on the status of the Local Plan.