NPPF inquiry
The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) sets out government planning policy for England. It was published by the Department for Communities and Local Government in March 2012 replacing a wide range of previous planning policy statements and planning policy guidance.
In 2014, the House of Commons Communities and Local Government Committee commissioned research from the Cambridge Centre for Housing and Planning Research into The nature of planning constraints, published in March 2014, which found, amongst other things, that planning targets may be producing perverse behaviour.
The Committee then decided to establish how effectively the NPPF was operating, and whether any changes needed to be made. An inquiry was launched on 4 April 2014, focussing specifically on:
- Planning for housing.
- Town centres.
- Planning for energy infrastructure.
- The nature of planning constraints.
On 15 December 2014, the Committee published Operation of the National Planning Policy Framework Fourth Report of Session 2014–15. The report suggests that the simplification brought to the planning system by the NPPF is welcome, but that it is still early days, and the NPPF needs more time to ‘bed in’, proposing that it should be strengthened so that everyone can have greater confidence in it.
A number of weaknesses were identified, including:
- A failure to prevent unsustainable development in some places.
- Inappropriate housing being imposed upon some communities as a result of speculative planning applications.
- Town centres being given insufficient protection against out of town development.
A wide range of proposals were put forward to strengthen the NPPF, including:
- Ensuring the same weight is given to environmental and social issues as to economic issues and that permission is only given if developments are accompanied by the infrastructure necessary to support them.
- A statutory requirement for councils to get local plans adopted within three years of legislation being enacted.
- Measures to address the complex issue of land supply, such as; closing loopholes relating to the viability of housing land, giving clearer guidance about how housing need should be assessed, and encouraging local authorities to review their green belts as part of the local planning process.
- An end to permitted development allowing shops and buildings used for financial and professional services to become homes.
[edit] Find out more
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
Featured articles and news
The average kinetic energy of molecules
Temperature in buildings, explained on DB
Women and unequal pay in project management
Main barrier to entering the profession, new study reveals.
IHBC’s response to Parliamentary Committee
On Levelling-Up and Regeneration Bill.
Finalists for 2022 CIOB Awards revealed
Over 70 managers and organisations shortlisted for the 14 awards.
Types of building sensors on BD
From biometric to electrical current, chemical and more.
Government mandates detectors in rented homes
Changes are due to come into force on 1st October 2022.
80% of major government projects are rated red or amber
Heed advice and insight of this report IPA tells the government.
The end of the games but continued calls for action
From the Commonwealth Association of Architects.
CIOB respond to the government call for evidence
For the Levelling Up, Housing & Communities Committee.
How are buildings and their occupants responding to extreme heat?
BSRIA's Technical Director reflects on recent weather patterns.
Landownership in England in 1909
A national valuation to fund old-age pensions.
The world’s largest Commonwealth memorial to the missing.
Long after the end of the defects liability period.
BSRIA Occupant Wellbeing survey BOW
Occupant satisfaction and wellbeing in buildings.
Geometric form and buildings in brief
From the simple to the complex.
Understanding the changing nature of insulation
And the UK Government guidelines.
Three year action plan to improve equity, diversity and inclusion
Commitment agreed to by major built environment bodies.
The Construction Route – what needs to change?
Electrical skills, low carbon, high-tech and the building services revolution.
Deep geothermal power possibilities
Ultra-deep drilling with millimeter-wave beam technology.
BSRIA Briefing 2022- From the outside looking in
Looking at the built environment from space.
Competence requirements for principal contractors and designers
BSI standards 8671, 8672 and 8673.
Bringing life to burial grounds.
From failed modernism to twenty-minute neighbourhoods.
Design chill and design freeze
The gates process and change control.