Supplementary planning document SPD

Local Plans are prepared by one or more district planning authorities, setting out a framework for the future development of an area on a 15-year horizon. They define; the priorities for an area, strategic policies, the framework for neighbourhood plans, land allocations, infrastructure requirements, housing needs, requirements for safeguarding the environment, measures for adapting to climate change and so on. Local Plans are also the starting-point for considering whether planning applications should be approved.

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in December 2024, defines supplementary planning documents: Documents which add further detail to the policies in the development plan. They can be used to provide further guidance for development on specific sites, or on particular issues, such as design. Supplementary planning documents are capable of being a material consideration in planning decisions but are not part of the development plan.’

Supplementary Planning Documents (SPD) build upon and provide more detailed guidance about policies in the Local Plan. Legally, they do not form part of the Local Plan itself and they are not subject to independent examination, but they are material considerations in determining planning applications. Supplementary Planning Documents should only be prepared where they are necessary.

Supplementary planning documents should be used where they can help applicants make successful applications or aid infrastructure delivery, and should not be used to add unnecessarily to the financial burdens on development.

The requirements for producing Supplementary Planning Documents are set out in Regulations 11 to 16 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012. In some circumstances a Strategic Environmental Assessment may be required when producing a Supplementary Planning Document.

Examples of Supplementary Planning Documents might include:

• Air quality.
• Noise.
• Transport.
• Ecology.
• Sustainability.
• Planning obligations.
• Affordable housing.
• Inclusive design.

Supplementary Planning Documents might also be prepared for specific areas.

Supplementary Planning Documents may have been referred to as Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG) prior to the introduction of Local Development Frameworks in 2012.

On 22 January 2025 the Architects Journal reported on the success of its Retrofit first campaign beingh adopted by the City of London as the first ‘retrofit first’ policy to come into force under the Supplementary planning document SPD process, with the SPD being approved by the Corporation’s Planning and Transportation Committee (City of London’s ‘retrofit first’ policy to come into force) The article indicates that more planning authorities, particularly in the capital, are 'poised to follow suit.'

"The City’s SPD is intended to support its 2040 Net Zero target and covers four other key sustainability themes, many of them concerned with slashing upfront or ‘embodied’ carbon. These are:

• Circular economy Encourages a shift from a linear to circular waste model in a building’s construction and operation to minimise waste through a building’s life cycle
• Greenhouse gas emissions and energy use Includes measures to reduce whole life-cycle carbon and operational energy emissions
• Climate resilience Sets out how developments should address flood risk management, water management, building and urban overheating, pest and disease control, and infrastructure resilience
• Urban greening and Biodiversity Sets out how to protect, conserve and enhance biodiversity, habitats and green infrastructure in the Square Mile.

Among other measures, the SPD will introduce NABERS UK* targets (a five-star target for new office developments, and four-star target for retrofitted office developments), as well as introducing embodied carbon benchmarking, aligning with the GLA embodied carbon benchmarks.

[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings

• Central activities zone supplementary planning guidance.
• Development plan.
• Development plan documents.
• Local development framework.
• Local development scheme.
• Local plan.
• Neighbourhood plan.
• NPPF.
• Opportunity Area Planning Framework (OAPF).
• Planning authorities.
• Planning permission.
• Safeguarding land.
• Skeffington Report.
• The London Plan.