Ministers have launched a new consultation on planning reforms that will make it easier for farmers and rural businesses to expand, while accelerating housebuilding across England.
Housing Minister Steve Reid has launched a consultation on changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), setting out proposals aimed at streamlining decision-making and placing greater emphasis on development that supports local businesses, rural areas and domestic food production.
The reforms are part of the government’s wider push to unblock the planning system and boost growth, with ministers claiming the current process is holding back both economic development and housing provision.
Mr Reid said the system was failing to deliver the results people expected. “The planning system we see today is still not working as well as it should. It’s a system that says ‘no’ more often than it says ‘yes,’ and it’s a system that prefers to block instead of build,” he says.
He said the effects are being felt by people struggling to access housing. “It has real-world implications for people who want to own their own home or escape so-called temporary housing. We owe it to the people of this country to do everything we can to build them the homes they deserve.”
The consultation builds on previous reforms and parallels the government’s aim to deliver 1.5 million new homes. Mr Reid said ministers were now working further.
“We have already laid the foundations for Build Britain, but the review of plans is just the first step in solving the housing crisis we face,” he said, adding that he would go “more than ever” to achieve his goals and increase home ownership.
Although the revised framework has been welcomed by some, rural campaigners have raised concerns about the potential impact on farmland.
Rural charity CPRE said the draft law contained positive elements such as urban densification, rural affordable housing and support for small builders, but warned that safeguards for rural areas remained weak.
CPRE chief executive Roger Mortlock said: “There is much to welcome in this revised draft of the National Planning Policy Framework,” highlighting “welcome support, including a focus on urban densification, recognition of the importance of rural affordable housing and targets to encourage more small business builders”.
But he warned that the promise to prioritize brownfield development was not enforceable. “The brownfields-first approach needs to be stopped. Brownfield targets are still missing,” he said, pointing to a CPRE study that found “there is room for at least 1.4 million homes to be built on brownfield sites in England alone”.
Mr Mortlock said CPRE remained concerned about speculative development in rural areas, particularly in local authorities facing high housing targets. “Already since 2019, the UK has lost an average of 3,800 acres of countryside, the equivalent of the area of a small city,” he said.
He also expressed concern about proposals affecting the Green Belt and warned against what he called automatic approval for rural development.
“We are wary of the automatic green light for development in rural areas, including in green belts where the government’s unclear ‘grey belt’ policy is failing,” he said, adding that CPRE research showed “the vast majority of new homes approved for ‘gray belt’ sites are built in unspoilt countryside.”
Consultation on the revised NPPF has now begun, with ministers seeking responses from farmers, rural businesses, local authorities and community groups before a final decision is made on the future direction of planning reform.
