The Government has today announced a new draft National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) for consultation which will be open until 24 September 2024.
- Standard Method Revision: Aiming to build 300,000 to 370,000 homes annually. – “Local housing need should be assessed using the standard method set out in national planning guidance, with an expectation to build 300,000 to 370,000 homes per year”
- Mandatory Local Housing Targets: Local authorities must set out 5 years’ worth of specific development sites – "Local planning authorities should identify and update annually a supply of specific deliverable sites sufficient to provide a minimum of five years’ worth of housing against their housing requirement set out in adopted strategic policies or against their local housing need where the strategic policies are more than five years old."
- Affordable Housing: 50% affordable housing required for Green Belt developments. Minimum proportion of “social rent homes” required where there's an identified need. “For Green Belt developments, at least 50% of the homes should be affordable, (with an appropriate proportion being social rent, subject to viability)”
- Goodbye to Beauty?: “Beauty” has been removed from the NPPF, with a return to a requirement for high quality design.
- Green Belt Review: Councils must review green belts when brownfield land is insufficient for development, prioritising ‘grey belt’ land. – “Exceptional circumstances include, but are not limited to, instances where an authority cannot meet its identified need for housing, commercial or other development through other means. In these circumstances, authorities should review Green Belt boundaries and propose alterations to meet these needs in full, unless the review provides clear evidence that such alterations would fundamentally undermine the function of the Green Belt across the area of the plan as a whole.”
- Grey Belt: In the event a council cannot meet its five year housing land supply or 75% of its Housing Delivery Test, then development on grey belt sites would not be considered in appropriate. Definition of the Grey belt: "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 para 140 of this Framework), but excluding those areas or assets of particular importance listed in footnote 7 of this Framework (other than land designated as Green Belt).
- Agricultural Land Use: The availability of agricultural land for food production is no longer considered in deciding what sites are most appropriate for development, providing more leeway to develop on the green belt. See page 55, clause 64.
- Public Service Infrastructure: Emphasis on new, expanded, or upgraded public service infrastructure alongside new homes when considering proposals for development - "Significant weight should be placed on the importance of new, expanded or upgraded public service infrastructure when considering proposals for development"
- Planning Policies: Policies will need to recognise provisions for “infrastructure that are needed to support the growth of these industries (data-driven, creative or high-tech industries)” and policies that “support economic growth and resilience”
- Solar Farms: Threshold for nationally significant infrastructure lifted to 150MW - "The threshold at which solar projects are determined as Nationally Significant will be increased to 150MW"
- Onshore Wind Projects: Nationally Significant threshold set at 100MW - "A proposal to set the threshold at which onshore wind projects are determined as Nationally Significant at 100MW"
- Proactive Site Identification: Stronger expectations for authorities to identify sites for renewable and low carbon development - "plans should: identify suitable areas for renewable and low carbon energy sources, and supporting infrastructure, where this would help secure their development"
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