After months of waiting the publication of the new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) took place on Thursday 12th December 2024.

The published NPPF has enacted many of the changes proposed in the consultation version, the headline items are as follows:

Total Housing Numbers

The Standard Method used to assess the level of housing need increased by circa 20% in England.

This means that Local Plans are now mandated to allocate land for at least 370k new homes nationally a year.

Transitional Provisions

The new NPPF, and the associated housing numbers, will not apply for emerging local plans which are submitted to the Secretary of State for examination on or before 12th March 2025, or those that reach Regulation 19 consultation on or before 12th March if their housing figures are at least 80% of what is required by the new NPPF.

5 Year Land Supply

Re-introduction requirement for all LPAs to maintain a 5 Year Land Supply regardless how up to date Local Plans are. This increases to 6 years supply for older plans after July 2026.

New Grey Belt Definition 

Grey Belt is defined as land in the Green Belt that is previously developed and/or does not strongly contribute to the following Green Belt purposes:

  • To check the unrestricted sprawl of large built up areas
  • To prevent neighbouring towns merging into one another
  • To assist in safeguarding the countryside from encroachment

This is a less strict definition than under the consultation version of the NPPF. 

For Local Plan purposes Grey Belt sites should be identified and allocated before ‘other’ green belt sites are considered. 

For those that want to learn more, #planoraks by Zack Simons has an excellent blog.

If you have any queries or would like to set up a meeting to discuss your land in more detail and potential opportunities, please do not hesitate to contact our planning team.

01788 726810 / info@catesbyestates.co.uk