In Layman’s Terms: What is the NPPF?

The National Planning Policy Framework (or ‘the NPPF’ as us planners like to call it!) is like the Bible for town planning in England.

In short, every planning decision across the country needs to conform with the planning policies set out in it. This is all the way from a small extension to a large ‘X’,000 unit development scheme in the Green Belt!

You may therefore think the document is long-winded…think again. It is actually a relatively short overview (well, let’s say ‘short’ in the context of planning documents!) of the do’s and don’ts for town planning practice. There isn’t a day that passes where it is not used by one of us at ET Planning. Sigh…

So what does it contain? Well, it’s split into digestible chapters that cover national planning topics set by the Government to guide development across the country. The latest version, published in December 2024, was produced by the new Labour Government, and has an impetus on housing delivery. This caused a flurry of excitement amongst developers, landowners, and private consultants alike. It’s amazing what gets us out of bed in the morning! The chapters are as follows:

1. Introduction
2. Achieving Sustainable Development
3. Local Plan-Making
4. Decision-Making
5. Delivering a Sufficient Supply of Homes
6. Building a Strong, Competitive Economy
7. Ensuring the Vitality of Town Centres
8. Promoting Healthy and Safe Communities
9. Promoting Sustainable Transport
10. Supporting High Quality Communications
11. Making Effective Use of Land
12. Achieving Well-Designed Places
13. Protecting Green Belt Land
14. Meeting the Challenge of Climate Change, Flooding and Coastal Change
15. Conserving and Enhancing the Natural Environment
16. Conserving and Enhancing the Historic Environment
17. Facilitating the Sustainable Use of Minerals

As a professional town planning consultancy, part of our role at ET Planning is to diligently understand the intricacies of the NPPF and look for opportune moments to take advantage of the policies and any potential loopholes to maximise development opportunities.

We will compare and contrast the policies set out in the NPPF, against those drawn-up by individual Councils (Local Plans) or Parish Councils (Neighbourhood Plans). Generally speaking, development which accords with all the relevant policies for a given area has the green light from us!

In England, it is therefore evident that there is a hierarchy of planning policies…with the NPPF sitting at the very top. If this doesn’t highlight its importance, then I don’t know what will!  Surely one to add to the bedtime reading list.

Check out our NPPF video here – https://youtu.be/xvqlDgqlGko\

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