The Government confirmed in its Budget document that it intends to respond to consultation over changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) before the end of the year.

Here, KPPC planning director Adam Bennett, sets out why there is no time to lose and why the reforms must have teeth.

“It is vital that the Government act quickly in relation to planning reforms in order to provide any chance of delivering the housing which is needed across the country and to stand any prospect of achieving even a fraction of the eye watering 1.5m homes which it has committed to delivering within this parliament.

“Will the NPPF changes be sufficient to deliver upon this commitment? Probably not, but if the increases in housing need which were posed within July’s consultation draft NPPF and changes to the standard method for calculating housing need are maintained and formally brought in to force, they are a step in the right direction.

“But, alongside this, the Government needs to be strict and strong with local authorities about actually meeting their assessed needs, and ensure that any opportunities or loopholes to deliver a lower level of growth are firmly closed.

“The biggest factor for the Government will be mandating that the new housing need figures are used for the calculation of five-year housing land supplies and that councils are not allowed to rely on recently adopted and out of date local plans based on the previous standard methodology and which propose a materially lower level of growth and artificially restrict housing delivery. Where an early review of a local plan is needed to address the new housing need figures a short and strict timeline for undertaking this work must be enforced.

“Otherwise, the new housing need figures will be entirely without teeth and we will see no real change delivered on the ground. The 1.5m homes figure will be nothing more than an empty promise.”

The confirmation in Chancellor Rachel Reeves Budget documentation yesterday comes after the new government made planning reform one of its flagship policies shortly after its election in July.

It published a consultation on its proposed changes to the NPPF including plans to revise the standard method for assessing local authorities’ housing need and change how they are required to review their green belt land.

The government pledged to respond to the consultation and publish NPPF revisions ‘before the end of the year, so policy changes can take effect as soon as possible’.

However, the Minister for Housing and Local Government Baroness Taylor of Stevenage last month warned that this may be delayed until the new year due to ‘thousands and thousands’ of responses.

Now, the government has confirmed its original deadline in documents accompanying the Budget with a commitment to respond to the consultation ‘before the end of the year to confirm pro-growth reforms to the planning system’.

In the documents, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) estimates that the government’s proposed changes to the NPPF ‘may enable greater delivery of new housing and infrastructure projects… as well as increasing productivity over the longer term’.

• Also in the Budget, the Chancellor confirmed a pledge to recruit 300 planners as part of £50m of spending ‘to expedite the planning process’ alongside a £500 million boost in funding for affordable housing in 2025 to 2026.

Please contact us to discuss how the NPPF changes may affect your project or plans. Call 01202 538800 or email  info@kppcltd.co.uk.