On 16 December 2025, the Government published its draft revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), alongside a consultation on the proposed draft, which runs until 10 March 2026. The draft revised document is much longer than the current NPPF and sets out proposed changes to housing delivery, Green Belt policy, affordable housing and the plan-making system. In this article, we set out the key changes for the planning industry.
The draft framework has been restructured to collect policies together in thematic chapters for ease of reference. The draft is reorganised into two main parts: plan-making policies (for development plans, spatial development strategies and neighbourhood plans) and national decision-making policies (NDMPs). The introduction explains that the objectives are for context only and should not be applied as policy, but the annexures are to be seen as national policy. It also confirms that Planning Practice Guidance is important, but it is merely to support national policy.
While Ministers Steve Reed MP and Matthew Pennycook MP both said in November that the new National Development Management Policies (which are now referred to in it as “national decision-making policies” (NDMPs)) are not going to be made statutory for the time being, the consultation document is not as certain. The policies could be given statutory status in the future (if the non-statutory status does not lead to the desired outcomes of i) supporting more effective decisions and ii) reducing generic or alternative policies in local plans).
Local plans that conflict with the NDMPs from the time when the new NPPF takes effect must now carry very limited weight (unless examined and adopted under the new NPPF), encouraging greater consistency.
The “expectation” is set out that local plans will not repeat the NDMPs, which may go some way to mitigating the impact of NDMPs being non-statutory.
Despite the above, development plans which are being prepared today can continue to be judged against the policies in the existing NPPF, whereas any development plans which are progressed under the new system set out in Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023, which is due to be in force early this year, should use the new version.
The presumption in favour of sustainable development is now applied in relation to location-based needs, rather than applying the former ’tilted balance’ test. Local plans are required to identify a clear spatial strategy, setting out settlement boundaries or criteria that determine where the presumption applies.
The presumption distinguishes clearly between development within settlements and development outside them, and the circumstances in which the presumption applies are much broader.
Within settlements, all proposals are automatically supported unless the harms substantially outweigh benefits, meaning brownfield development is supported by default.
Outside settlements, a set of development types qualify for presumption under Policy S5, including where there is a failure to demonstrate a five-year housing land supply or scoring under 75% on the latest Housing Delivery Test. As expected, housing and mixed-use schemes within reasonable walking distance of railway stations now qualify for the presumption, provided they do not prejudice longer-term development plans in the same location. Developments in the Green Belt near rail stations may also benefit, subject to meeting the “Golden Rules”.
The new NPPF introduces a new medium-site category for developments of 10–49 homes on sites up to 2.5 ha, and potential exemptions from the Building Safety Levy are also being explored in a bid to support SME developers. There is also provision for higher density developments on smaller sites.
One of the biggest surprises is the proposal in the consultation document that medium sized sites would be allowed to pay cash in lieu of providing affordable housing, replacing the current requirements such as pepper potting.
The draft NPPF proposes a series of changes to viability policies in development plans and sets out limited circumstances where a developer can justify providing a non-policy-compliant level of affordable housing as follows:
The draft document provides that green belt reviews should identify broad locations for strategic development, including new settlements and major urban extensions, covering large site allocations in adopted local plans.
Development plans should also outline measures to offset green belt releases through environmental and accessibility improvements to remaining green belt land, reinstating a requirement removed in the 2024 framework.
The revised draft redefines “harm to heritage assets” to three tiers: harm, substantial harm, and total loss, with “substantial harm” clarified as damage to an asset’s key significance. The term “valued landscapes” has been removed from the new draft, simplifying landscape protection policy.
A dedicated chapter supports clean energy infrastructure and water to support the Clean Power by 2030 agenda. The draft includes initiatives like incorporating swift bricks into developments unless there are ‘compelling technical reasons which prevent their use’ and chalk stream protection.
In addition, chapter 19 sets out that payments into the nature restoration levy (NRF) are offered as an alternative to Habitats assessments, reflecting Part 3 of the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025. The government released a policy paper on Implementing the NRF on 18 December which sets out how the NRF will work in practice, implementation plans and milestones for the NRF.
Overall, the proposed changes to the NPPF form part of the government’s efforts to overhaul the planning system, meet the objectives of supporting economic growth and tackle the country’s housing crisis. We can help clients navigate these draft changes to the NPPF when approaching planning matters.
Alongside the tweaks to the BNG policies in the draft NPPF, the government also announced that it intends early this year to respond to last summer’s consultations on BNG. It has confirmed that the changes will modify the rules on BNG, including an exemption for developments on sites under 0.2 ha, various simplifications to the process of providing BNG on small and medium-sized sites and measures to make it easier to deliver BNG off-site than is the case currently. The government will also consult on a BNG exemption of certain brownfield sites, up to 2.5ha, from mandatory BNG provision. We will consider the detail of these changes once they are published.
