NPPF 2024 and 2023 Compared

Download a copy of the NPPF 2024 showing what has been deleted and what has been added. 
National Planning Policy Framework 2023-24 Compared.pdf

Changes are marked in green text

Background

Planning legislation gives the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government powers to issue planning guidance, and places planning authorities under a duty to follow that guidance.  However no such powers or duties apply to highways and highway authorities.  So the footnote in the NPPF "48 Policies and decisions should not make use of or reflect the former Design Bulletin 32, which was withdrawn in 2007" has no direct bearing on highway authorities, and has been unheeded especially in county areas.  However a decision by a highway authority to use Design Bulletin 32 as a basis for policies and decisions could be challenged through judicial review on the grounds of unreasonableness, given that so many other policy areas and acts of parliament such as public health, climate change, the welfare of children, and the core statutory duty on local authorities to promote road safety, give weight to updated street design guidance, such as Manual for Streets (2007), and LTN 01/20 Cycle Infrastructure Design.  The authority in question would likely have costs awarded against it.  

Key Changes

The section structure remains the same.  Changes to the text include:

• "Beauty" has been removed as an objective
• in determining planning applications "where there are no relevant development plan policies, or the policies which are most important for determining the application are out-of-date, granting permission unless"....any adverse impacts of doing so would significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits, when assessed against the policies in this Framework taken as a whole., having particular regard to key policies for directing development to sustainable locations, making effective use of land, securing well-designed places and providing affordable homes, individually or in combination
• requirements on strategic planning and coordination between planning authorities are strengthened, (although some of this is a requirement in primary legislation)
• affordable housing is covered
• vision-led transport statements are mentioned
• well-designed upward extensions are promoted.  This goes beyond the mansard roof reference in the 2023 NPPF
• there continues to be encouragement to "take a proactive role in identifying and helping to bring forward land that may be suitable for meeting development needs"  Including facilitating land assembly and where necessary using CPO powers.
• Green Belt - there are several additional sections through150-160 including the "Golden Rules" eg...
  • "Where major development involving the provision of housing is proposed on land released from the Green Belt through plan preparation or review58, or on sites in the Green Belt subject to a planning application59, the following contributions (‘Golden Rules’) should be made:
    • a. affordable housing which reflects either: (i) development plan policies produced in accordance with paragraphs 67-68 of this Framework; or (ii) until such policies are in place, the policy set out in paragraph 157 below;
    • b. necessary improvements to local or national infrastructure; and
    • c. the provision of new, or improvements to existing, green spaces that are accessible to the public. New residents should be able to access good quality green spaces within a short walk of their home, whether through onsite provision or through access to offsite spaces.
• supporting the transition to Net Zero by 2050 is identified as a specific target in the guidance whereas before it was merely a "low carbon future" 
• Sustainable drainage systems are mentioned for use in vulnerable areas.

Other changes relating to Planning

Proposals put forward to change the way planning applications are determined in England

This working paper presents three proposals to streamline the planning system. The principal focus here is to

• increase certainty over how an application will be assessed
• reduce delays and costs
  • when applications compliant with a local plan or those for post-permission matters still go through a planning committee rather than being delegated to planning officers
  • when applications rejected by a planning committee are successfully appealed.

The three proposals consist of:

1. A national scheme of delegation determining which applications are decided by officers and which by committees, envisaged in four different forms:

• Option 1 – Delegation where an application complies with development plan
  • It is left for the local planning authority to determine only whether non-compliant plans should be delegated to officers.
• Option 2 – Delegation as default with exceptions for departures from the development plan
  • All applications to be delegated to officers unless
    • the application is a departure from the development plan and is recommended by officers for approval
    • the application has been submitted by the local planning authority, its members or officers.
• Option 3 – Delegation as default with a prescriptive list of exceptions
  • Irrespective of development plan, all applications to be delegated to officers unless meeting specific criteria, for example “subject to over a specified number of objections”.
  • Option 4 – hybrid approach combining elements of the different options

2. Dedicated committees for strategic development – allowing a small group of councillors to maintain engagement with the most significant projects. 

3. Training for committee members - requiring that councillors undertake appropriate training before they can form part of a planning committee.

To View the Government consultation paper >>>>

Reflections ..... the proposals for delegation hinge on the quality of local plans.  Not only do most local authorities lack up to date plans, they even lack audited accounts.   As of March 2024, 110 local planning authorities—a third of the total—had adopted a local plan in the past five years, while 291 had plans that were more than five years old.  (Source Hansard).  The reality is that few local people understand or engage in the local plan process. 

In relation to Local authority accounts, the National Audit Office reported last month that owing to severe delays in audits, just over 10% (43) of England’s 426 local authorities submitted reliable data to the "Whole of Government Accounts". Of the near 90% of local authorities that failed to submit reliable data, 46% (196) submitted information that had not been audited, and 44% (187) did not submit any data at all.

Housing Delivery Test measurement rule book published 

 >>>>
The Housing Delivery Test is an annual measurement of housing delivery in the area of relevant plan-making authorities.  This document details how it is to be carried out.