Planning Speed Read – 10 February 2025
10th February, 2025
In this week's Planning Speed Read, we reflect on the House of Lords verdict on the Grey Belt reforms, the PGG's new legal status, updates to the Land Use Framework for England and the launch of a new inquiry on land value capture by the Local Government Committee.
House of Lords verdict on the Grey Belt reforms
The House of Lords Built Environment Committee has published a letter sent to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government setting out their view that the Government’s grey belt policy is “largely redundant” in light of other changes to the green belt policy as was published in the updated NPPF in December 2024 which the Committee believes render the grey belt policy ineffective. Their letter further criticises the Government for lack of a clearly thought out strategy as to the grey belt, and how to monitor its impact.
Notwithstanding these criticisms, it is clear that the grey belt policy is having an impact with a recent number of decisions having been made in reliance on it.
The PPG is awarded the same legal status as the NPPF
In the recent Court of Appeal decision in Mead Realisations Limited v Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, North Somerset Council [2025] EWCA Civ 32, The Court of Appeal reaffirmed the earlier High Court decision, describing the legal status of the Government’s policies in the NPPF and its guidance in the planning practice guidance (PPG) as “basically the same” with “no legal distinction” between them.
The Court of Appeal further set out that the PPG reinforces the comprehensive framework of national planning policy set out in the NPPF and explains how the high level policy objectives as set out in the NPPF are to be achieved.
The Court did stop short of giving an exact definition of the role of the PPG, but went on to confirm that the PPG is a material planning consideration when it comes to decision making, with the weight to be given to the guidance a matter for the decision maker.
It remains to be seen how much difference this judgement makes in practice; the PPG is regularly used by developers and local planning authorities alike to justify and persuade decision making.
The judgement made it clear that they would not expect the NPPF and the PPG to be inconsistent with each other, but given the status that has now been given to the PPG, the concern has to be around the ability to update and amend it outside of the NPPF’s extensive consultation process and the weight that should be afforded to the PPG accordingly.
The Government introduces a consultation on a Land Use Framework for England
As part of the Government’s Plan for Change, which seeks to build 1.5 million homes and fast-track planning decisions, a consultation has been launched on the approach to managing land use in England. The consultation endeavours to collect data on how land is used, to inform an approach to prioritising future development. While its focus is on protecting agricultural land and food supply, it is also intended to ensure that infrastructure and housing can be delivered sustainably.
What is not yet clear is how the framework will interact with the planning system. While the consultation states that it is not the intention that the framework will bind decision makers, the value of the framework can only be realised if some degree of joined up working is envisaged.
The Framework aims to pool the knowledge and resources of multiple parties and therefore presents an opportunity for many different stakeholders to get involved in what will likely have an influence over future development proposals.
The Local Government Committee launches a new inquiry on land value capture
With so many planning-related announcements coming thick and fast from the Government, it may have escaped notice that the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee has once again launched an inquiry into land value capture policies. A call for evidence has been published, which can be accessed here, closing on 5 March 2025.
The aim of the inquiry is to consider possible reforms to the current system of planning obligations and CIL to deliver affordable housing and infrastructure as well as looking at reforms around CPO compensation rules.
The effectiveness of CIL and s106 obligations has been subject to continuous debate going back many years, and it remains to be seen whether any genuinely new reforms will come out of this further inquiry.
Please note that this briefing is designed to be informative, not advisory and represents our understanding of English law and practice as at the date indicated. We would always recommend that you should seek specific guidance on any particular legal issue.
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