The Government has published a new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) replacing the December 2024 version and introducing one of the most substantial restructures of national planning policy in recent years.
While many of the principles established in December 2024 remain, including the drive to increase housing delivery, make better use of brownfield land and unlock appropriate development within the Green Belt, the August 2026 Framework goes considerably further.
For developers, landowners and local authorities, the new Framework changes not only what national planning policy says, but increasingly how planning applications should be assessed.
One of the most fundamental changes is the introduction of a clearly defined set of national decision-making policies.
The development plan remains the statutory starting point for determining planning applications. However, the new NPPF states that development plan policies which are materially inconsistent with the new national decision-making policies should generally be given very limited weight.
This could be particularly important in areas where Local Plans are older and contain restrictive policies which no longer reflect the Government’s approach to housing delivery, sustainable locations, economic growth or the efficient use of land.
For applicants, it means that understanding the relationship between local and national policy will become increasingly important when preparing planning strategies.
The familiar “presumption in favour of sustainable development” has also been substantially rewritten.
The new Framework now distinguishes much more clearly between development within settlements and development outside settlements.
Within settlements, national policy establishes a positive starting point: development should generally be approved unless its benefits are substantially outweighed by adverse effects when considered against the national decision-making policies.
Outside settlements, the Framework identifies specific categories of development which can be supported, including the redevelopment of previously developed land, appropriate rural development, certain infill schemes, development around well-connected stations and proposals which respond to evidenced unmet development needs.
This makes the definition and extent of a settlement an increasingly important consideration when assessing development opportunities.
Perhaps one of the most interesting changes for landowners and developers concerns land around well-connected railway, tram and light rail stations.
The Framework creates a positive policy route for residential and mixed-use development within reasonable walking distance of qualifying stations. National policy generally treats this as around 800 metres, subject to the quality and practicality of the walking route.
This approach also extends into the Green Belt.
Qualifying residential and mixed-use development close to a well-connected station can now potentially be treated as not inappropriate development in the Green Belt, subject to requirements relating to its relationship with the station or settlement, infrastructure capacity and, for major housing schemes, the Green Belt “Golden Rules”.
This is significant because the policy does not rely solely upon land being classified as “grey belt”.
Land close to qualifying stations, including land previously considered heavily constrained by Green Belt policy, may therefore warrant a fresh planning review.
The station-led approach is accompanied by stronger national expectations for making efficient use of land.
Residential and mixed-use development within reasonable walking distance of a well-connected station should generally achieve at least 35 dwellings per hectare, increasing to 45 dwellings per hectare around stations with higher-frequency services.
More generally, new residential development within settlements is expected to contribute towards increasing the density of the surrounding area unless there is a clear justification for a different approach.
For landowners and developers, this places even greater importance on establishing realistic site capacity at an early stage.
Housing delivery continues to sit at the heart of national policy.
The five-year housing land supply and Housing Delivery Test remain important, but their role has been reframed within the new policy structure.
Where housing delivery falls below 75% of the requirement, the Framework now identifies an evidenced unmet need for housing. This can be particularly relevant when considering opportunities outside existing settlements.
Local Plans are also expected to provide a wider range of development opportunities, including at least 10% of housing requirements on sites of no more than one hectare and a further 10% on sites between one and 2.5 hectares, unless there are strong reasons why this cannot be achieved.
This should create further opportunities for SME developers and promoters of small and medium-sized sites.
The August 2026 NPPF continues the move away from traditional “predict and provide” transport planning towards a vision-led approach.
Development should be planned around the outcomes that are sought for a place, with transport infrastructure and sustainable travel measures used to help deliver that vision.
The new Framework also places greater emphasis on assessing connectivity and introduces the Government’s Connectivity Tool as part of the evidence used when assessing development locations.
The longstanding test for refusing development on transport grounds remains high: proposals should only be refused where they would result in a severe adverse impact on the transport network or an unacceptable impact on highway safety after mitigation has been considered.
There are also significant changes for development affected by surface water flood risk.
National policy continues to seek to direct development towards areas at the lowest risk of flooding. However, the Framework now provides an important exception to the Sequential Test where a site is affected only by surface water flooding and the development can be designed and mitigated so that occupiers remain safe for its lifetime without increasing flood risk elsewhere.
For previously developed and constrained urban sites, this could remove an important barrier where flood risk can genuinely be managed through good design.
The Framework also strengthens expectations for Sustainable Drainage Systems, including explicit reference to the National Standards for SuDS.
The August 2026 NPPF is much more than a simple policy update.
It creates a more structured national approach to decision-making and provides several potentially important development opportunities. Sites within settlements, previously developed land, land around well-connected stations and some Green Belt locations may all benefit from a more positive national policy position.
At the same time, expectations around density, sustainable transport, infrastructure, flood risk and supporting information have become more detailed.
For landowners and developers, the key message is therefore simple: sites which have previously been discounted may now be worth reviewing again.
At Inspire Planning & Design, our planning, transport and infrastructure teams work together to assess development potential, identify constraints and establish a planning strategy from the outset.
If you have land with development potential, particularly land close to an existing settlement or railway station, the publication of the August 2026 NPPF provides a good opportunity to reconsider what may now be achievable.