{"id":158709,"date":"2026-01-27T07:00:50","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T07:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/?p=158709"},"modified":"2026-01-26T17:18:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T17:18:11","slug":"latest-chapter-planning-policy-reform-points-fundamental-restructure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/latest-chapter-planning-policy-reform-points-fundamental-restructure\/158709\/","title":{"rendered":"Latest chapter in planning policy reform points to a fundamental restructure"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>In a double announcement, the government has revised planning policy and green-lit new legislation, with hopes of making a dent in its 1.5 million new homes target. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brownejacobson.com\/people\/ben-standing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ben Standing<\/a>, partner in planning at UK and Ireland law firm Browne Jacobson, examines the key themes from the twin-track reforms<\/h2>\n<p>It was in late 2024 when the government first signalled its intention to cut through the red tape holding back housebuilding via its revisions to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).<\/p>\n<p>Twelve months later, it came back with a wrecking ball after realising that to build, it must first demolish much of the planning system as we know it.<\/p>\n<p>The latest version of the NPPF isn\u2019t simply a list of tracked changes, but a complete rewrite of England\u2019s planning policy, representing the biggest transformation since its introduction in 2012.<\/p>\n<p>Two days after launching a consultation on the draft policy document, which runs until 10 March, the government\u2019s Planning and Infrastructure Bill received royal assent.<\/p>\n<p>This provided further confirmation that Labour believes housebuilding can unlock economic growth that has remained sluggish during its first 18 months in office.<\/p>\n<p>For local authority planners and developers, the impact of these changes will be significant.<\/p>\n<p>However, the big question remains: is it solely the planning system that\u2019s holding back development on the scale desired by government, or are the problems much broader, such as public perception of development, viability of schemes and availability of skilled workers?<\/p>\n<h3>Key changes in the new National Planning Policy Framework<\/h3>\n<p>The late 2025 draft may be the sixth version of the NPPF, but it features noticeably different language and concepts that will fundamentally alter the various tests used by planners and developers.<\/p>\n<p>By changing wording entirely, old case law may get thrown out the window, providing an opportunity for a genuinely new approach to how planning decisions are made by local and national government.<\/p>\n<p>In analysing some of the new NPPF\u2019s details, there\u2019s a targeted push to unlock small and medium-sized plots of land for development, often regarded as the most difficult sites to bring forward for development due to land costs and local opposition.<\/p>\n<p>Measures include a new \u201cmedium\u201d category for sites that benefit from a streamlined approach to obligations, such as paying contributions in lieu of affordable housing; exemptions from biodiversity net gain regulations for smaller sites, to be implemented separately; and new benchmark land values.<\/p>\n<p>The NPPF also introduces a \u201cpermanent presumption\u201d in favour of suitably located development, particularly on<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/new-research-impact-sustainability-policies-brownfield-land-development\/154496\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> brownfield, urban land<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>To achieve this, the draft NPPF introduces a distinction between development proposals inside and outside of settlements.<\/p>\n<p>For development proposals within settlements, the presumption is that they will be approved unless the benefits would be \u201csubstantially outweighed\u201d by adverse effects. This is different from the current test of \u201csignificantly and demonstrably outweighing\u201d the benefits, which is applied whether or not the proposals are within a settlement.<\/p>\n<p>This change in wording marks a departure from the previous NPPF and encourages an interpretation that facilitates <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/planning-and-consent-reforms-are-the-proposed-changes-to-the-consenting-process-enough\/149473\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">planning consent<\/a> to be granted.<\/p>\n<p>For those outside the settlement boundary, there are set types of development that would be successful, including within a reasonable walking distance of a railway station that \u201cprovides a high level of connectivity to jobs and services\u201d. This is likely to put significant pressure on villages with a station connecting with an urban centre.<\/p>\n<p>Considered alongside a raft of other changes, these changes therefore fundamentally change how councils and developers consider development proposals.<\/p>\n<h3>What\u2019s in the Planning and Infrastructure Act?<\/h3>\n<p>There\u2019s a clear link between the legislative and policy instruments being used by government. The drive to unlock smaller sites in the NPPF is complemented by provisions in the Planning and Infrastructure Act.<\/p>\n<p>These include streamlining consultations for nationally significant infrastructure projects (NSIPs), introducing the ability for developers to pay to compensate for environmental harm, and bolstering development corporations to deliver large-scale <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/new-towns-need-decisive-action-to-scale-housing-delivery\/156919\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">new towns and communities<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Replicating spatial development strategies that are already established in London across the English regions is designed to facilitate a joined-up approach across multiple local authorities to identify the most suitable places to build houses and associated infrastructure.<\/p>\n<p>Tied into this is a dedicated focus on continuously updating five-year local plans. Where these are outdated, there\u2019s a high likelihood that development will come forward on a piecemeal and speculative basis, with reduced public engagement and fewer guarantees that it will make the most of an area\u2019s potential.<\/p>\n<h3>Risk of creating uncertainty<\/h3>\n<p>Successive governments have tweaked planning policy over and again, but the reality is it\u2019s had little impact on building rates, which remain way behind the 300,000 annual target at 204,000 in 2025, according to the Office for National Statistics.<\/p>\n<p>Labour\u2019s attempt to rip up the rulebook and start again finally has the potential to fundamentally alter how we look at planning. Yet for all this excitement, there\u2019s a danger that constant flip-flopping \u2013 this was the third December running it\u2019s been amended \u2013 holds back development rather than accelerates it.<\/p>\n<p>It also does not address the PR problem that development faces, with residents often strongly opposed to any development in their area.<\/p>\n<p>In our experience, regular significant changes to the system create uncertainty for developers on how to cost these in, while local authority planners require sufficient guidance so they can make good decisions.<\/p>\n<p>More broadly, planning policy will only ever be one piece of the jigsaw in the government\u2019s quest to build more homes. It must address the viability problem by tackling the wider economic and skills challenges that make construction so expensive, and the general perception by the population that new development only brings negatives.<\/p>\n<div class=\"mk-custom-module-container\">\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a double announcement, the government has revised planning policy and green-lit new legislation, with hopes of making a dent in its 1.5 million new homes target. Ben Standing, partner in planning at UK and Ireland law firm Browne Jacobson, examines the key themes from the twin-track reforms. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":158711,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[304],"tags":[734,276,699,732,173212,952],"stakeholder_rel_tag":[],"contributor_rel_tag":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-158709","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","8":"tag-brownfield","9":"tag-government","10":"tag-land","11":"tag-nppf","12":"tag-pbc-today-february-2026","13":"tag-planning"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.9 (Yoast SEO v26.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Latest chapter in planning policy reform points to a fundamental restructure<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ben Standing, partner in planning at UK and Ireland law firm Browne Jacobson, examines the key themes from twin-track planning policy reforms\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/latest-chapter-planning-policy-reform-points-fundamental-restructure\/158709\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Latest chapter in planning policy reform points to a fundamental restructure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ben Standing, partner in planning at UK and Ireland law firm Browne Jacobson, examines the key themes from twin-track planning policy reforms\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/latest-chapter-planning-policy-reform-points-fundamental-restructure\/158709\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Planning, Building &amp; 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