Introduction
On 17 August 2026 the Government published a new version of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). In this blog post, we discuss the major changes made in the new NPPF
The New NPPF 2026
The new NPPF and the accompanying Policy Statement and Press Release published by the Government can be accessed at the following website links:
New NPPF – https://www.gov.uk/guidance/national-planning-policy-framework
Policy Statement – https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/creating-a-clear-rules-based-planning-system/creating-a-clear-rules-based-planning-system
Press Release – https://www.gov.uk/government/news/full-steam-ahead-to-fast-track-more-homes-near-stations
Many of the reforms contained in the new NPPF reflect the proposals set out in the consultation which took place from December last year, but a number of key changes have been made in light of feedback received through the consultation
According to the Government, the new NPPF “sets out national planning policy in a clearer and more comprehensive manner and incorporates a number of substantive reforms designed to boost housing supply and unlock economic growth in the years ahead”
The decision-making policies in the NPPF will have an immediate impact as they come into effect from 17 August 2026
Main Changes under the New NPPF
The new NPPF has been restructured to provide clearer national policies for both plan-making and decision-making, reducing reliance on subjective judgement and limiting duplication between local and national policy. It means that conflicting local policies will carry less weight where they are inconsistent with national decision-making policies
The main changes are:
- Stronger in-principle support for development, meaning a more explicit presumption in favour of development in sustainable locations, including development within settlements
- Housing delivery and densification aimed at increasing housing supply though “default yes” support around well-connected stations and minimum density expectations around stations
- Communities, design and accessibility changes including a national minimum number (40%) of accessible homes on major developments and stronger protections for community facilities
- Stronger support for growth and infrastructure including support for AI Growth Zones and data centres
- Streamlining decision-making by aiming to make planning decisions faster and more proportionate though things like reducing information requirements for smaller schemes and creating a new category of “medium” development
The above is simply a broad summary of the changes in the new NPPF and of course the ‘devil is in the detail’ and no doubt planning and legal commentators will be pouring over the 130 pages of wording of the new NPPF in the coming days and publishing their thoughts
From our firm’s perspective as planning lawyers who regularly negotiate Section 106 legal agreements, we would note another change in the new NPPF (in Policy DM6) which is clearly focussed on standardisation and the use of national model planning obligations (i.e. Section 106 agreements), wherever possible – it states “Where national model planning obligations are relevant to the development, they should be used unless there are strong reasons for using a different planning obligation”. We wait with keen interest to see what the Government actually proposes as it national model section 106 agreement and whether local planning authorities are indeed willing to adopt this (over their own template agreements) as past Government attempts at this have failed miserably
Our comments
In our view, the changes in the new NPPF should in principle make it easier at least in planning policy terms for some developments to come forward and receive planning approval and thus achieve the Government’s aim of boosting development and economic growth. However, the NPPF has been revised several times in the past with no significant impact so one always has to remain sceptical and wait to see what happens in practice and whether local planning authorities and developers actually see any benefits from these policy changes
Note: all comments and views expressed in this blog are merely opinions and provided for information purposes only and do not constitute legal advice which can be relied upon. Should you require legal advice on a matter then please contact us
