An updated National Planning Policy Framework was published on 20th July 2021 following an earlier government consultation on the proposed revisions.
The updates make a number of alterations to the text of the Framework. Those changes include;
- Measures to improve design, including a requirement for councils to produce local design guides or codes. A model design code was published alongside the updated Framework. The updated Framework states that significant weight should be given to ‘ outstanding or innovative designs which promote high levels of sustainability, or help raise the standard of design more generally in an area’,
- The benefits of trees in news developments is emphasised, with the document stating that ‘planning policies and decisions should ensure that new streets are tree lined, and opportunities are taken to incorporate trees elsewhere in developments’. Additionally, appropriate measures should be in place to ensure the long term maintenance of newly planted trees and for existing trees to be retained wherever possible,
- Guidance on when article 4 directions may be used by Councils to limit permitted development rights,
- Encouraging faster delivery of colleges, hospitals and prisons,
- Where larger scale developments such as new settlements or significant extensions to existing villages and towns form part of the strategy for the area, policies should be set within a vision that looks further ahead (at least 30 years), to take into account the likely timescale for delivery,
- For rural housing, the test for isolated homes to be permitted in the countryside has been tightened, and whereas the previous version of the NPPF allowed those if the design was ‘truly innovative or outstanding’, ‘innovative’ has now been removed,
- Where major development involving the provision of housing is proposed, planning policies and decisions should expect at least ten per cent of the total number of homes to be available for affordable home ownership, and
- Opportunities to improve biodiversity should be integrated into a scheme’s design.
If you have any queries with these or other revisions to the framework then please do not hesitate to contact us.
