National Planning Policy Framework

The Government is consulting on further changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which sets out its planning policies for England and how they will be applied. By making the NPPF more ‘rules-based’ and simpler to use, the Government is aiming to accelerate its ambition to build 1.5 million new homes, and the key proposals include:

• Introducing a new category of ‘medium development’ for sites between 10 to 49 homes with reduced compliance requirements, including the option to discharge social and affordable housing requirements through cash contributions in lieu of direct delivery
• Exempting from the Building Safety Levy sites of fewer than 50 homes or fewer than 120 bedspaces in purpose?built student accommodation
• Ensuring housebuilding near train stations receives a default ‘yes’ if certain criteria are met, with a minimum density of 40 dwellings per hectare around all stations and 50 dwellings per hectare around ‘well-connected’ stations 
• Amending the definition of ‘Designated Rural Area’ to support the additional construction of affordable housing, as well as setting clearer expectations for local authorities to identify sites for accessible housing.

The deadline for responding to the consultation is Tuesday 10 March and members can respond online. In addition to the changes to the NPPF, the Government has confirmed that it will introduce an exemption from Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) requirements for small sites up to 0.2 hectares. Its full response to the BNG consultation held last year will be published in due course.