Planning reform tracker: what the changes mean for plot owners and buyers

What actually changed on 17 August

1. The framework now applies to live decisions immediately. The policies are material considerations "from the day of its publication" (Annex A, paragraph 1). More consequentially for anyone with an application in: local plan policies that are materially inconsistent with the new national decision-making policies should be given very limited weight. If your council's plan says something the new framework contradicts, that part of the plan just lost most of its force.

2. Development outside settlements now has a defined list. This is the change that matters most for plot buyers. New policy S5 sets out the forms of development that should be approved outside settlements, unless the benefits would be substantially outweighed by adverse effects. The list includes:

• agriculture, horticulture and forestry; outdoor sport and recreation; allotments; cemeteries; mineral extraction; engineering operations and infrastructure; and development solely for nature conservation
• rural businesses and services, including tourism, where a location outside settlements is shown to be necessary
• the reuse, extension, alteration or replacement of an existing building, provided it is lawful and of permanent and substantial construction, and the result is not disproportionately larger
• the redevelopment of previously developed land — including a change of use to residential
• limited infilling within groups of houses
• rural exception sites, Community Right to Build Orders and Neighbourhood Development Orders
• residential development within reasonable walking distance of a well-connected station
• land allocated for that purpose in the development plan
• development addressing an evidenced unmet need — including housing where the council cannot demonstrate a five year supply of deliverable sites, or scores below 75% on the Housing Delivery Test — where the site is physically well-related to an existing settlement and the scale suits available infrastructure

Isolated new homes remain the exception, dealt with separately under policy HO11.

3. "Reasonable walking distance" and "well-connected station" now have hard definitions. Reasonable walking distance is around 800 metres (or around a 10-minute walk where topography or barriers get in the way). A well-connected station is one in a top-80 Travel to Work Area by economic output, served in the normal weekday timetable by at least four trains or trams an hour overall, or at least two an hour in one direction. That turns a vague policy into something you can check against a specific plot on a map and a timetable.

4. Grey belt survives the rewrite, with a definition. Grey belt is land in the green belt that is previously developed, and/or any other green belt land that does not strongly contribute to the green belt's purposes (a), (b) or (d) under policy GB2. Where green belt land is released, the sequence is brownfield first, then grey belt that is not previously developed, then other green belt. Development on grey belt has to clear four tests: it must not fundamentally undermine the remaining green belt's purposes, meet an evidenced unmet need, be in a sustainable location, and (for major housing) comply with policy GB8.

5. Housing land supply buffers are set out explicitly. A council's five year supply must include a buffer of 5% normally; 20% where housing delivery has been significantly under target (below 85% on the Housing Delivery Test); and 20% for decision-making where an authority's housing requirement was adopted in the last five years against a pre-December 2024 framework and is 80% or less of current assessed need. Where delivery falls below 75%, an evidenced unmet need for housing is deemed to exist for the purposes of policy S5(1)(j) — which is the door back into that list above.

6. The 2024 and 2025 Housing Delivery Test results were published the same day, alongside the government's consultation response. Those results are what decide which councils are now carrying a 20% buffer or a deemed unmet need.

7. Pubs got stronger protection, and the framework carries reinforced policy on the loss of community facilities generally: a developer must show there is no reasonable prospect of the pub remaining viable before converting it.

What happens on 31 October

The national scheme of delegation comes into force, made under the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 and the Town and Country Planning (Discharge of Local Planning Authority Functions) (England) Regulations 2026. Planning officers will decide most applications; committees are restricted to the most significant cases, capped at 13 members, and their members must undergo mandatory training. Each council designates "gatekeepers" — normally the chief planning officer together with the committee chair — who jointly decide whether an eligible case goes to committee at all.

The regulations themselves are the Town and Country Planning (Discharge of Local Planning Authority Functions) (England) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/854), and the split is set out in two schedules. Schedule 1 lists what must be decided by an officer: householder applications, minor commercial schemes, minor residential schemes of one to nine homes on sites under half a hectare, reserved matters on smaller outline permissions, discharge of conditions, prior approval, certificates of lawfulness and biodiversity gain plans. Schedule 2 covers everything else, including major applications and listed building consent, where the presumption is still an officer decision unless the nominated officer and the committee chair agree it should go to committee. Two further points matter for anyone whose application falls into Schedule 1. The government's guidance says that if a committee decides an application the regulations reserve to officers, that decision may be open to judicial review by anyone aggrieved and could be quashed. And regulation 8 requires the Secretary of State to review the regulations and publish a report by 31 October 2028, so the scheme is not settled for good.

For a small application, that cuts both ways. A single-plot proposal that complies with policy is less likely to be talked out by a committee responding to local objection. A proposal that relies on persuading elected members to depart from officer advice loses the forum where that used to happen.

What it means if you own or want to buy a plot

• A plot near a station is now a different asset. If land sits within about 800 metres of a station that meets the frequency test, residential development there is on the approve-unless list. That is the single biggest shift for plot values in this framework, and it is checkable: measure the distance, check the timetable.
• Previously developed land outside settlements got a clear route. Old yards, redundant farm buildings with hardstanding, disused commercial scraps: redevelopment including a change of use to residential is explicitly on the S5 list.
• Infill within a group of houses is explicitly supported. "Limited infilling within groups of houses" is one of the listed categories, which is exactly the shape of the classic garden or gap plot.
• Your council's delivery record decides how much of this you can use. Under-delivery below 75% creates a deemed unmet need; a missing five year supply does the same. The same plot can be a refusal in a well-supplied district and an approval next door. Check the position before you pay for planning potential.
• Old local plan policies are weaker than they were. Where a plan policy is materially inconsistent with the new national decision-making policies, it should carry very limited weight — worth knowing if a refusal leaned on one.
• None of this suspends the basics. Flood zones, protected landscapes, access, heritage and highway constraints still decide most cases. Reform changes the argument on the margin; it does not make a constrained plot buildable.

How to check where a specific plot stands

A Plot Report checks the plot-level facts the reforms turn on: green belt status, designations, planning history on and around the plot, flood risk and access, in plain English, against official data. If you are weighing a purchase on planning potential, run the free check first and see what needs attention. Our free land valuation tool shows what the land is worth on today's evidence.

Property tax reform is moving in parallel: see our tracker on what a land value tax would mean for land owners.

Development log

• 20 August 2026. Final NPPF published 17 August 2026 and in force for decisions from that date; first comprehensive rewrite since 2012, replacing the December 2024 edition. Verified against the framework itself: policies are material considerations from the day of publication and inconsistent plan policies carry very limited weight (Annex A, paragraphs 1–2); policy S5 lists development that should be approved outside settlements; reasonable walking distance defined as around 800 metres and well-connected station defined by service frequency (Annex B); grey belt defined by reference to policy GB2 purposes; five year supply buffers of 5% and 20% and the Housing Delivery Test consequences at 95%, 85% and 75% set out in Annex D. The 2024 and 2025 Housing Delivery Test results and the consultation response were published the same day. Sources: National Planning Policy Framework (GOV.UK), Creating a clear, rules-based planning system (GOV.UK).
• 20 August 2026. National scheme of delegation confirmed to take effect 31 October 2026 under the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 and the Town and Country Planning (Discharge of Local Planning Authority Functions) (England) Regulations 2026: officer-led decisions, committees capped at 13 members with mandatory training, and gatekeepers deciding what reaches committee. Source: Planning committees and the national scheme of delegation: guidance for local planning authorities (GOV.UK).
• 28 July 2026. Page published. Verified status at the time: December 2025 NPPF consultation closed March 2026; final framework expected summer 2026; the 20% five-year land supply buffer applies from 1 July 2026 to councils whose plans provide 80% or less of assessed need; grey belt release established without forcing boundary reviews. Sources: House of Commons Library NPPF briefing, Commons Library green belt briefing, LGA response.

We will add dated entries here as the story develops. Use the box at the top of this page if you want an email when that happens.