Planning
Contents
- Legislation
- News
- Case law
Key contact
Key anticipated events
March
- 16 March 2026: Consultation on the revised NPPF closes
March
2026
Legislation
Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025
On 18 December 2025, the Planning and Infrastructure Act received Royal Assent. We discuss Part 3 of the Act in our Environment section here. Other alterations in Part 2 of the Act that developers should be aware of include:
- The ability for local planning authorities to set their own fees for planning applications. This is a change from the current system of fees being set nationally. However, the Secretary of State can direct the fee level should the one set by the local planning authority be deemed inappropriate
- The requirement of training before members are eligible to sit on the planning committee
- The creation of a nationally set scheme of delegation. Currently, delegation of planning decisions is in the hands of individual local planning authorities, resulting in varying approaches across the country. This scheme allows the Secretary of State to nationally set out which categories of planning applications should be delegated to council officers and planning committees respectively
- The introduction of a rule that income from planning application fees or charges must be primarily dedicated to improving the planning service
Implications for businesses
The above changes are intended to serve the aim of streamlining the planning application system to aid the Government’s promise to “get Britain building again”. Indeed, the prospective increase in the flow of money (by local planning authorities setting their own fees and those fees going back into the planning system) has the ability to increase the effectiveness of planning services, allowing for quicker decision making to the benefit of developers. Further, the nationally set scheme of delegation has the benefit of providing greater consistency, and therefore certainty, for developers regarding how their applications will be dealt with.
Further details
For further details you can access the Planning and Infrastructure Act here.
News
The Autumn Budget
26 November 2025 saw the unveiling of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Autumn Budget. Besides reaffirming the Government’s commitment to building 1.5 million new homes in England, the announcements included:
- Steps to increase the number of planners: a £48 million increase in funding to recruit an additional 350 council planners by expanding the Pathways to Planning graduate scheme (£137,000 per head), and the creation of a new ‘Planning Careers Hub’ with the purpose of retaining and retraining ‘mid-career professionals’
- £1.3 billion of the National Housing Delivery Fund is to be made available to Mayors, with £811 million going to the North
- That the Government “will shortly consult on the reform of VAT rules to incentivise the development of land intended for social housing”
- Intentions to explore further planning reforms with a view to ease the ability for growth of high street and hospitality businesses
Implications for businesses
These changes, if implemented successfully, will have a positive impact on developers in the years ahead.
The retention and recruitment of planners, particularly within Councils, would enable swifter planning decisions to be made on housing and infrastructure, addressing the backlog in planning decisions, enabling developers to commence works sooner, and aiding the Government’s vision of building an additional 1.5 million homes. Significant praise has been received for the decision to increase investment in the planning system, with Dr Victoria Hills, Chief Executive of the Royal Town Planning Institute, stating that the Autumn Budget “marks a watershed moment for the English planning system”.
Additional benefits for developers will be created by a possible reform relating to social housing by expanding on the zero-rate of VAT, making investment in social housing land increasingly viable for developers. The devolution of £1.3 billion to Mayors from the National Housing Delivery Fund and reforms to ease growth of high street and hospitality businesses also signifies a promising change for developers, with the former to aid the delivery of ambitious growth projects and deliver strategic sites across the country and the latter promoting development in those areas.
Further details
The full statement by Dr Victoria Hills, Chief Executive of the Royal Town Planning Institute can be read here.
For more information on the Autumn Budget please visit our Tax section here.
Economic Fiscal Outlook Report
Alongside the Autumn Budget, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) released its Economic Fiscal Outlook Report. The report contained disappointing data for the Government’s development aims, including:
- A reduction in its estimation for the number of homes that will be built over its six-year forecast, predicting that 10,000 fewer homes will be built in the 2024/2025 financial year and 2029/2030 than forecast in March 2025
- Forecasts remain well below the Government’s 1.5 million homes target
- Net delivery of additional homes expected to fall “from an average of 260,000 a year in the early 2020s to a low of 215,000 in 2026-27”
- Average house prices in the UK are expected to rise over the six-year forecast from £260,000 in 2024 to £305,000 in 2030
- The prediction that the Planning and Infrastructure Act could pose “downside risks” to its economic growth forecast for the UK
Implications for businesses
The figures offer a pessimistic outlook on housing demand and delivery over the next five years, which would be to the detriment of developers. However, it is yet to be seen if these statistics will improve in light of the Autumn Budget announcements (discussed above) and the Planning and Infrastructure Act (also discussed above).
Revised NPPF
A revised version of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) was published on 16 December 2025. This revision is currently under consultation and will be open for comments until 10 March 2026. The new NPPF will help to shape the approach towards planning throughout 2026. One proposed change is a 'default yes' policy that will apply to planning applications for 'suitable proposals' of new homes around 'well-connected' train stations and in existing settlements around train stations, providing certain conditions are met. Reeves described the motivation for this decision as “getting spades in the ground faster, connecting people with jobs and opportunities closer to where they live, and boosting towns and cities across the country”. Notably, this approach also applies to Green Belt land. However, the Golden Rules (including requirements for high levels of affordable housing and the provision of green space) still apply.
Implications for businesses
This is expected to be another positive change for developers, increasing the speed for approval of applications and providing greater access for developers to land (including in the Green Belt) in proximity to train stations.
Actions for businesses to consider
This revision is under consultation and will be open for comments until 10 March 2026 so any businesses wishing to comment on the draft NPPF can engage with the consultation process.
Further details
For further details you can access the new draft NPPF here and the consultation page here.
You can also access the Government’s press release here.
Additions to Secretary of State’s Call-In Powers
In November 2025, the Secretary of State for Housing, Steve Reed, revealed further measures intended to assist the Government in meeting its 1.5 million new homes aim. One method is a requirement for local planning authorities in England to notify the Secretary of State when they plan to reject new housing developments that would provide in excess of 150 dwellings; a refusal notice could only be issued after the Secretary of State has reached a view on whether they want to call in the application. Thus, in the circumstances of more than 150 dwelling developments, this would take decision-making power away from the local planning authorities and redirect it to the Secretary of State.
Implications for businesses
This would be a positive change for housing developers in the years ahead. Given the Governments pro-development stance to “get Britain building again”, such a change will likely see more large-scale developments being approved than would have been seen under local planning authorities.
There are doubts on the capacity of the planning inspectorate and central government to take on this decision-making burden. Thus, how significant the impact this change would have, if implemented, is uncertain.
Case law
C G Fry & Son Limited v Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities & Somerset Council [2025] UKSC 35
The impact of the ruling in C G Fry relating to Ramsar sites has been considered in our Environment section here. There are however wider planning implications as a result of the second ground.
In ground two of this case, the Supreme Court dealt with the relationship between the outline permission and the discharge of conditions. In doing so, they made it clear that when a planning permission is granted there is a fundamental change in the legal position on account of rights given to the developer to develop the land. After that has occurred, the local planning authority is bound by the conditions of the planning permission and cannot then undermine the rights afforded to the developer by refusing to give approval for relevant schemes due to other policy considerations. In this case, it was the policy in what was then paragraph 181 of the NPPF regarding habitat sites.
The judge held:
“Rights given by the planning legislation cannot be overridden or diluted by general policies laid down by central government, whether in the form of the NPPF or otherwise”.
Implications for businesses
This strong stance by the Supreme Court against the undermining of developer’s rights and furtherance of alternative policy objectives is a boon to developers, whose planning permissions are provided some protection from alteration going forward. This case also displays the limitations of the NPPF, the implications of which are yet to be seen.
Further details
You can access a copy of the full judgement here.
You can also read our article dedicated to the key points of the case and its impact on developers here.
R (on the application of Ribble Valley Borough Council) v (1) Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (2) Majid Hussain [2025] EWHC 2363 (Admin)
This case concerned the meaning of brownfield (previously developed) land within the Green Belt and arose when Ribble Valley Borough Council (RVBC) brought a challenge against a Planning Inspector’s decision to grant permission for one private dwelling on Green Belt land utilised previously for equestrian use.
The Planning Inspector found that the entire site was previously developed land (PDL), despite acknowledging the “piecemeal” nature of the development and the fact that parts of the site, such as the paddock, were essentially never developed.
The court found there had been an error of law due to the Inspector not debating the question of which parts of the site were and were not PDL, stating:
“the piecemeal spread of the development and the concentration of equestrian development at one end of the site” required “some analysis as to the relative portions of PDL”. As such, “A more detailed analysis as to the constituent parts of PDL was needed to support a lawful conclusion that the whole site was PDL”.
An added complication was the allegation that RVBC Council had conceded and accepted at the hearing that 154(g) – which concerns the redevelopment of PDL land on the Green Belt – of the NPPF was satisfied. However, the court found that there was not enough evidence of such a concession.
The courts consequently quashed the Planning Inspector’s decision.
Implications for businesses
The approach of the courts serves as a warning to developers going forward regarding PDL in Green Belt areas that a section of undeveloped land on a wider site may undermine a PDL characterisation and shows the limitations of reliance on Council concessions.
Key contact
Contact us today
Whatever your legal needs, our wide ranging expertise is here to support you and your business, so let’s start your legal journey today and get you in touch with the right lawyer to get you started.
Get in touch
For general enquiries, please complete this form and we will direct your message to the most appropriate person.