03333 231 580
Contact us
A new presumption in favour of sustainable development
The presumption in favour of sustainable development now depends on location. Within settlements, proposals should not be approved unless their benefits are substantially outweighed by adverse effects. Outside settlements, policy allows only listed categories of development. These categories include schemes within reasonable walking distance of a well-connected station and development meeting an evidenced unmet housing need.
Plan-making
Spatial Development Strategies have been retained from the 2025 draft and must cover at least 25 years. The minimum local plan period falls from 15 years to ten. Local plans should be adopted within 30 months of a Gateway 1 self-assessment.
Housing delivery
Housing need must be assessed using the standard method from the previous NPPF, and the requirement should exceed local need “where appropriate”, for example, to meet neighbouring authorities’ needs or significant growth ambitions. Where a Spatial Development Strategy sets housing requirements, they should not be retested at local plan stage unless circumstances change significantly. The NPPF also introduces a new medium-sized site category of between 10 and 49 homes or sites up to 2.5 hectares. Local plans should allocate at least 10% of the housing requirement to sites of one hectare or less, and a further 10% to sites of between 1 and 2.5 hectares. A Housing Delivery Test result below 75% means an unmet housing need is deemed to exist, and delivery below 85% triggers a 20% buffer for the five year housing land supply calculation. However, authorities that can show a five-year supply and delivery of more than 75% are protected for five years after the adoption of their local plan, so a higher updated need figure will not, on its own, count as unmet need.
Green Belt and Grey Belt
Exceptional circumstances do not have to be shown to alter Green Belt boundaries around well-connected stations that a spatial strategy has identified. Elsewhere, exceptional circumstances are still required, including where an authority cannot meet its housing need in full. Grey Belt is defined as previously developed land or other land that does not strongly contribute to Green Belt purposes (a), (b) or (d). Development on Grey Belt is not inappropriate where it would not fundamentally undermine the remaining Green Belt, meets an evidenced unmet need and is in a sustainable location. The Golden Rules still apply to major housing on Grey Belt sites, requiring affordable housing at 50%, necessary infrastructure and accessible green space. Compliance with the Golden Rules carries substantial weight. The 2025 draft’s requirement for compensatory improvements to the remaining green belt has been dropped.
Design, environment and heritage
The blanket policy to refuse development that is not well designed in the 2025 draft has been replaced. Under the new test, proposals should be refused if they conflict with design principles or explicit local standards without clear justification. Councils may set biodiversity net gain above the statutory level only for specific site allocations. Heritage assessment has been restructured into four tiers. Assessments must identify whether a proposal would have a positive effect, no effect, harm or the total loss of significance. Substantial harm arises where a proposal would seriously affect a key element of an asset’s significance.
Practical implications
Developers should find more certainty in settlement-based schemes and in development around stations and with the improved definition of the “Presumption” for sites outside of settlements. The position on standardised viability inputs is still unsettles but with more information to be provided in planning practice guidance. Landowners with land in the Green Belt, near stations or on the edge of a settlement should reassess its potential. Practitioners will need to apply the new weighting rules carefully. The policies remain non-statutory for now, but the government keeps open the option of making them statutory later.
DMH Stallard’s expert planning lawyers and consultants have the knowledge to help you comply with planning regulations. Contact the team today by email or call +44(0)3333 231580.
