Consultation on a revamped National Planning Policy Framework

On 16 December 2025, Housing Secretary Steve Reed MP pledged to “go further than ever before” to hit the government’s 1.5 million homes target, announcing a major consultation on a revamped National Planning Policy Framework.

The government suggests it is the most significant rewrite of planning rules in more than a decade – although many of the changes have been announced previously.

Key revisions include:

• A default ‘yes’ to suitable homes being built around rail stations, alongside minimum housing density rules.
• A default ‘yes’ to new homes building upwards in towns and cities, fast-tracking development schemes that meet high standards for well-designed homes.
• Making it easier for developers – particularly SME builders – to build higher density housing, such as modern apartments and flats, on smaller sites and under-used land where appropriate.
• The new ‘medium site’ category for sites between 10 to 49 homes so SME builders face proportionate rules and costs for their site size – including considering a possible exemption from the Building Safety Levy.
• Streamlining standards on energy efficiency and Biodiversity Net Gain to give builders certainty on plans for new homes.
• Encouraging a more diverse mix of housing, such as rural affordable homes and accessible homes for older people and those with disabilities, providing certainty for developers to meet the housing need of every group across local communities.
• New builds to include nature-friendly features, such as installing swift bricks, to support wildlife – adding little to building costs whilst delivering a win-win for nature and housebuilding.
• Preferential treatment for developments that strengthen local economies and provide new services, including shops, leisure facilities, and food production.

To ensure these changes make an immediate difference, the government is proposing that they effectively override conflicting policies from day one.

In addition, the government is reaffirming its commitment to back housebuilders through a package of wide-ranging measures to ramp up housing and infrastructure delivery:

• Boosting the rollout of the Small Sites Aggregator across Bristol, Sheffield, and the London Borough of Lewisham, supporting SME builders with an extra £5 million to transform up to 60 small brownfield sites into new social housing.
• Working with local authorities to create new standard house designs to build more high-quality homes through modern methods of construction, so manufacturers can invest in modern factories and increase productivity.
• An additional £8 million for local planning authorities with the highest levels of major housing schemes waiting for a decision, including London Boroughs, to bolster capacity on the ground and quickly process applications at the final stages of approval.
• Reforms to Biodiversity Net Gain to make the process simpler for SME developers while maintaining nature recovery at scale.
• Accelerating the construction of new data centres co-located near energy sites by creating a single planning route for approvals to drive growth, attract more investment, and boost AI Growth Zones for communities to have greater access to power.
• Pressing ahead with the modernisation of planning committees for elected councillors to focus on the most significant proposals, whilst smaller housing projects will be decided by expert trained planners more quickly.

The government is also investing an extra £48 million to strengthen planning capacity and support the aim to recruit around 1,400 new planning officers this Parliament.

Housing Secretary Steve Reed said: “Right now we see a planning system that still isn’t working well enough. A system saying ‘no’ more often than it says ‘yes’ and that favours obstructing instead of building. It has real-world consequences for those aspiring to own a home of their own and those hoping to escape so-called temporary accommodation – we owe it to the people of this country to do everything within our power to build the homes they deserve. We’ve already laid the groundwork to get Britain building but our planning overhaul was only the first step to fix the housing crisis we face. And today I’m going further than ever before to hit 1.5 million homes and place the key to homeownership into the hands of thousands more hardworking people and families.”

Planning Director at the Home Builders Federation, Catherine Williams said: “The draft NPPF reinforces Government’s commitment to reforming the planning system and removing barriers to homebuilding, retaining a clear focus on sustainable development while protecting the natural environment. Proposals to reduce the complexity should help to reduce delays, speeding up the time it takes to get permissioned sites to the point when homes can be built and giving some much-needed encouragement to a dwindling number of local SME home builders. This progressive approach is urgently required if the industry is going to reverse the trend of recent years that has seen a decline in the number of homes being consented.”

The consultation on the revamped National Planning Policy Framework can be read in full here.

[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings

• A guide to the updated National Planning Policy Framework.
• Killian Pretty Review.
• Localism Act.
• National Planning Framework.
• National Planning Policy Framework.
• National Planning Practice Guidance.
• NPPF consultation briefing notes on terms.
• NPPF inquiry.
• Outline planning permission.
• Planning legislation.
• Planning permission.