The government has launched a consultation on a revamped National Planning Policy Framework today, which it says could unlock hundreds of thousands of new homes.
The government says that the new changes will help optimise land use through higher-density development, simplify biodiversity rules for smaller sites and fast-track housing projects that meet national standards for energy efficiency.
The proposals include:
• A default ‘yes’ to suitable homes being built around rail stations, alongside minimum housing density rules
• A default ‘yes’ to new homes building upwards in towns and cities, fast-tracking development schemes that meet high standards for well-designed homes.
• Making it easier for developers – particularly SME builders – to build higher density housing, such as modern apartments and flats, on smaller sites and underused land where appropriate
• The new ‘medium site’ category for sites between 10 and 49 homes so SME builders face proportionate rules and costs for their site size, including considering a possible exemption from the Building Safety Levy
• Streamlining standards on energy efficiency and Biodiversity Net Gain to give builders certainty on plans for new homes.
• Encouraging a more diverse mix of housing, such as rural affordable homes and accessible homes for older people and those with disabilities, providing certainty for developers to meet the housing need of every group across local communities
• New builds to include nature-friendly features, such as installing swift bricks, to support wildlife – adding little to building costs whilst delivering a win-win for nature and housebuilding
• Preferential treatment for developments that strengthen local economies and provide new services, including shops, leisure facilities, and food production.
The government says that these measures will pave the way for a stable, rules-based system where developments that meet clear standards can move quickly from plans to construction, calling it the most significant rewrite of national planning policy in over a decade.
The new rail and densification policies are expected to unlock a potential 1.8 million homes in the coming years and decades.
Part of the proposals include changes to BNG rules, which the government says will make the system “work better for some of the smallest developments” and simplify the process for SME developers while maintaining nature recovery at scale. This would see a BNG exemption for sites with a threshold of less than 0.2 hectares, while a consultation on a 2.5-hectare brownfield-specific exemption, with further announcements are expected on simplifying offsite BNG for medium-sized developments.
Housing secretary, Steve Reed, said: “Right now, we see a planning system that still isn’t working well enough. A system saying ‘no’ more often than it says ‘yes’ and that favours obstructing instead of building.”
“It has real-world consequences for those aspiring to own a home of their own and those hoping to escape so-called temporary accommodation – we owe it to the people of this country to do everything within our power to build the homes they deserve.”
“We’ve already laid the groundwork to get Britain building but our planning overhaul was only the first step to fix the housing crisis we face. And today I’m going further than ever before to hit 1.5 million homes and place the key to homeownership into the hands of thousands more hardworking people and families.”
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “For too long our economy has been held back by a housing system that slows growth, frustrates business, and prices the next generation out of a secure home.”
“These reforms back the builders not the blockers, unlock investment and make it easier to build the 1.5 million new homes across every region– rebuilding the foundations of our economy and making affordable homes a reality for working people once again.”
Richard Beresford, chief executive of the National Federation of Builders (NFB), commented: “We thank the government for again listening to the industry on calls to review the NPPF and help small and medium-sized housebuilders.”
“Since the first NPPF review, a working paper to define medium-sized sites of between 10 and 49 homes was released and policies to assist SMEs have been consulted on. This review is therefore a key moment to bring previous consultations together and embed them in national planning policy.”
Rico Wojtulewicz, head of policy and market insight at the NFB, said: “The reforms announced on Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) are welcomed and will help small projects, but the policy is still broken. For as long as it remains based on broad habitats and not ecosystems, it will continue to make projects unviable, while not doing enough for wildlife.”
“We therefore hope to convince this government to back our five-year campaign to support on-site solutions and strategies which directly support wildlife. For example, letting bee, bird and bat bricks, and lighting spectrums and plants which sustain food chains, count in the BNG calculator.”
“It feels perverse that on the one hand the government is saying new builds should include nature friendly elements to support wildlife but on the other have a BNG policy which discounts their benefits for wildlife.”
Berkeley Group chair, Rob Perrins, said: “Our country’s housing supply is constrained by the layers of overlapping policies and regulations which make it impossibly slow, complex and expensive to build homes. We commend these positive reforms which, once adopted, will help to rationalise this dysfunctional system and create a more consistent and certain process that actually delivers the high-quality private and affordable homes people need at real scale and pace.”
Danny Pinder, director of the British Property Federation, said: “It’s good to see the previously announced proposals make it into the draft National Planning Policy Framework. It’s particularly welcome to see explicit recognition of the need to plan for older people’s housing, following on from similar recognition of the valuable contribution that Build-to-Rent homes could make to housing supply in last year’s NPPF revisions. Housing completions have fallen off a cliff this year so measures that increase planning certainty and support a wider range of entrants into the market – whether SMEs or later living providers – have to be a good thing.”
“However, the decision to make national development management policies a non-statutory element of a revised NPPF could undermine that same certainty, and we will need to examine the consultation carefully to assess the potential impact on new development.”
