Month: August 2026

Push The Button: The Pro-Development Presumptions, “Substantial Weight” & “Support” Policies In The New NPPF

To maximise the prospect of securing planning approval, scheme promoters need to ensure that their schemes press as many of the relevant buttons in the new NPPF as possible.

I have counted 21 of them, which I set out below. Most have detailed qualifying criteria to meet, but hopefully this will allow you to see the wood for the trees in applying the new policy framework. Not triggering the particular policy may in some cases count against you in the planning balance, so this is not quite just the Scrabble approach of always looking to maximise use of those triple word scores.

S3: Presumption in favour of sustainable development

1. Decisions on development proposals should apply a presumption in favour of sustainable development. This means:

a. Policy S4 in this Framework should be applied when considering development proposals within settlements;

b. Outside settlements, policy S5 should be applied; and

c. In all locations, development proposals that accord with both an up-to-date development plan and the decision-making policies in this Framework should be approved without delay.

S4: Principle of development within settlements

  1. Development proposals within settlements should be approved unless the benefits of doing so would be substantially outweighed by any adverse effects, when assessed against the national decision-making policies in this Framework.

S5: Principle of development outside settlements

  1. Only certain forms of development should be approved outside settlements, as set out in the following list. These should be approved, unless the benefits of doing so would be substantially outweighed by any adverse effects, when assessed against the national decision-making policies in this Framework.

For developments outside settlements, falling within the a to j list is vital. If your land is green belt the development proposed must not be “inappropriate development” and must therefore fall within one of the a to h criteria in policy GB7 1 – so grey belt development, for instance, also qualifies for this strong pro-development presumption.

CC2: Mitigation of climate change

2. Substantial weight should be given to the benefits of improving the energy efficiency of existing buildings and/or drawing energy from district heat networks, renewable and low carbon sources (including through the installation of heat pumps and solar panels where these do not already benefit from permitted development rights) where this would be achieved through proposals for development.

CC3: Adaptation to climate change

2. Substantial weight should be given to the benefits of improving the resilience of existing buildings and public spaces to anticipated climate change impacts where this would be achieved through proposals for development.

HO7: Meeting the need for homes

1. In applying the policies in this Framework, substantial weight should be given to the benefits of providing homes which will contribute towards meeting the evidenced accommodation needs of the community, as identified through needs assessments prepared for the area of the local planning authority and other relevant evidence. This includes, but is not limited to, homes needed for different groups assessed under policy HO1.

E2: Meeting the need for business land and premises

1. To support business growth, substantial weight should be given to:

a. The economic benefits of proposals for commercial development which allow businesses to invest, expand and/or adapt; especially where this would support the economic vision and strategy for the area, the implementation of the Industrial Strategy, support improvements in freight and logistics and/or reflect proposals for Industrial Strategy Zones and AI Growth Zones; and

b. Benefits for domestic food production, animal welfare and/or the environment which can be demonstrated through proposals for development for farm and agricultural modernisation.

TC2: Development in town centres

1. In considering proposals for development in town centres, substantial weight should be given to the benefits of:

a. Supporting the overall vitality and viability of the centre, including where this can be achieved through the diversification of uses, intensification and provision of residential accommodation (provided this would not conflict with policies in the development plan for specific locations); and

b. Improving or retaining access to local shops and other facilities which provide day-to day services for the local community.

CO1: Proposals for telecommunications infrastructure

1. In considering proposals for the expansion or upgrading of electronic telecommunications networks, substantial weight should be given to the benefits of maintaining or improving network coverage, capacity, reliability and resilience, including where significant improvements are required such as along rail corridors. This includes, but is not limited to, providing for next generation wireless technologies (such as standalone 5G), gigabit capable broadband connections and supporting infrastructure such as fibre exchanges.

W3: Renewable and low carbon energy development and electricity network infrastructure

1. In considering proposals for renewable and low-carbon energy development and electricity network infrastructure, substantial weight should be given to:

a. The benefits for improving energy security, supporting economic development and/or the transition to a net zero future;

b. In the case of applications for the re-powering and life-extension of existing sites, the additional benefit of utilising an established site for this purpose; and

c. The contribution that small-scale and community-led renewable and low carbon energy projects can make to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, along with their associated economic and social benefits.

W4: Water infrastructure

1. In considering proposals for water supply, drainage and wastewater development, substantial weight should be given to the benefits of: a. Providing the capacity needed to serve proposed development and/or improving the security of supply and capacity for existing users (both residential and commercial, including agricultural users); and

b. Improving water quality and reducing water-borne pollution.

M3: Assessing the benefits of mineral development

1. In assessing proposals for minerals development, substantial weight should be given to the benefits of mineral extraction and processing, including to the economy.

L2: Making effective use of land

1. Substantial weight should be given to the benefits where a development proposal would achieve one or more of the following:

a. Remediating despoiled, degraded, derelict, contaminated or unstable land;

b. Making better use of vacant and underutilised land and buildings (such as: by bringing back into residential use empty homes and other suitable buildings; converting space above shops; redeveloping underutilised retail and business sites; and building on or above service yards, lock-ups, car parks and other transport infrastructure which are no longer required);

c. Making effective use of previously developed land and buildings through temporary uses, in situations where alternative development is anticipated within a reasonable period (including as a result of the land being allocated for an alternative purpose in the development plan); or

d. Creating additional homes or floorspace within settlements by using the airspace above existing residential and commercial premises, or through sensitive redevelopment or additional development within existing plots (including, but not limited to, the addition of mansard roofs, proposals to fill gaps in the existing roof line, the introduction of higher buildings at street corners and additional units within residential curtilages).

GB8: The Golden Rules

2. In considering applications for major development involving the provision of housing on land released from the Green Belt through plan preparation or review, or on sites in the Green Belt subject to a planning application, substantial weight should be given to the importance of complying with the Golden Rules.

DP3: Key principles for well-designed places

5. Substantial weight should also be given to outstanding or innovative designs which promote high levels of sustainability, or which help raise the standard of design more generally in an area, so long as they are consistent with the overall form and layout of their surroundings.

HC4: Proposals for new and improved community facilities, public service infrastructure and development providing public health benefits

1. Substantial weight should be given to the benefits where:

a. New or improved public service infrastructure or community facilities would be provided; and

b. Development proposals would make a demonstrable contribution towards promoting good health, preventing ill-health, reducing health inequalities or supporting social interaction in the local community (such as, but not limited to, the provision of new recreation facilities, meeting places and opportunities to grow or purchase healthier food).

P6: Land and operations for defence and public safety

1. Substantial weight should be attached to the importance of sites, activities, facilities and infrastructure required to maintain and enhance defence capability, or whose primary purpose is public safety (including uses such as coastal protection works, coastguard and lifeboat facilities and emergency services telecommunications infrastructure), when considering:

a. Proposals for such development (whether through modernisation, intensification, redevelopment or expansion for operational and related purposes); and

b. Proposals which could affect their operational activity and capability, including situations where other development should only proceed where it can make alternative or replacement provision for defence or public safety operations which would otherwise be affected, or where noise from operational activities could affect the proposed development (in which case policy P4 should also be applied).

HE6: Proposals affecting designated heritage assets

  1. Development proposals which would have a positive effect on a designated heritage asset should be supported.

HE7: Decisions on non-designated heritage assets

  1. Development proposals which would have a positive effect on a non-designated heritage asset should be supported.

HE8: World Heritage Sites

  1. Proposals that conserve those elements of a World Heritage Site or its setting, including any buffer zone, that make a positive contribution to it or which better reveal its significance, should be supported.

HE9: Conservation areas

  1. Proposals which conserve those elements of a conservation area that make a positive contribution to the area (or which better reveal its significance) should be supported.

Simon Ricketts, 31 August 2026

Personal views, et cetera

Planning Appeal Procedure Myth Busting: Statistics Do Not Show Hearings Procedure To Be Inherently More Advantageous For Appellants Than Written Representations

I’ve seen that planning lawyers and other planning advisers are increasingly tempted to roll out statistics as to likely appeal outcomes as part of the advice being given by clients. By and large, it’s good, I often do it myself.

But I do wonder whether sometimes it is too easy to get misled by the numbers without digging a little bit further. Damned statistics and all that. This post just looks at one truism that I’m increasingly sceptical about: that for an appellant it is better for your appeal to be determined by way of hearing rather than written representations because the statistics demonstrate a higher success rate.

Appeal Finder do some great tables like this one:

Who wouldn’t look at this and draw an obvious conclusion?

But let’s dig a little deeper. This is an Appeal Finder table which breaks down the percentage of appeals allowed by type of development:

A couple of interesting themes start to take shape:

  • Major dwellings appeals (I assume 10+ dwellings) have a significantly greater success rate than commercial appeals – perhaps unsurprising given the positive national policy climate for residential development (look at the increase since 2023/2024), although perhaps that “commercial appeals” basket may also include some appeals for minor works which have not had the level of professional input and attention as more major schemes in terms of (1) whether to appeal in the first place and (2) a proper evidence-based articulation of the case.
  • Major dwellings appeals have an even greater success rate than minor dwellings appeals – my points (1) and (2) above, surely.

In fact, my proposition is that your prospects of success as an appellant are not particularly down to whether the appeal is determined by way of written representations or by way of hearing (I’m leaving the question of inquiries out of this – maybe I’ll compare hearings and inquiries in a future post). What is more influential is whether the scale of the scheme is such that there has been that professional input. My points (1) and (2).

You can see the position more clearly if you start to break down dwellings appeals as between schemes for 50 dwellings or more and schemes for fewer than 50 homes.

Smaller schemes are less likely to be approved on appeal than larger schemes, regardless of procedure.

I’m very grateful to my colleague Adam Choudhury for producing some tables from the Compass website, looking at appeals determined since the December 2024 NPPF until this month’s version.

With schemes for fewer than 50 dwellings, a circa 29% success rate for written representations appeals plays circa 40% for hearings. A difference but not huge, bearing in mind that many of those written representations appeals will have been at very much the lower end of the scale and made without any initial professional advice as to prospects of success (i.e. hopeless from the start) and/or not assisted by professional representation.

With schemes for 50 dwellings or more the success rate is completely different, a circa 62% success rate for written representations appeals plays circa 70% for hearings. Yes, still a distinction but the huge distinction is with the earlier table. For written representations appeals 62% plays circa 29%. The vast majority of written representations appeals are for those smaller schemes, of fewer than 50 dwellings (1,959 over the period as opposed to 63 for schemes of 50 dwellings or more), which makes it so misleading for anyone to point to anything like the first table in this post as a reason not to go down the written representations route!

Given that with the streamlined procedures now in place for written representations appeals resulting from applications submitted from 1 April 2026 (see my 15 February 2026 blog post Don’t Be An April Fool: Written Reps Planning Appeals Are About To Get Faster But Also Riskier ), there’s a risk that appellants miss out on faster decision making simply through fear that there is an inherent material disadvantage in proposing, or being allocated, the written representations route. I wonder whether advisers and advocates in relying on the overall stats are really in part backing up a “gut feel” that (1) if only they can eyeball the inspector and address him or her face to face they will inevitably improve the appellant’s prospects and/or that (2) a written representations appeal may be determined by a less experienced inspector and/or one paying less attention to the submitted detail. The small delta in percentage prospects of success for similar schemes via the two processes does, I suggest, cast doubt as to whether these are in fact significant factors and that the most important question is which is the procedure that most sensibly is going to give the inspector the necessary understanding of the appellant’s case, which after all is by definition a case based on written documents, drawings and an understanding of the site and surroundings.

(With the new written representations procedure I know there is also a great fear out there amongst appellant teams about the restriction on introducing new material at the appeal stage. In my view the challenge this creates in terms of needing to ensure that your application is “appeal ready” is usually outweighed by the benefits of a faster simpler process without the LPA and third parties able to backfill their case but that’s a topic for another day).

If I have gone any way at all to bust this myth about written representations appeals, I do think there is another much more uncomfortable myth to be busted: that we have a quasi -judicial, rational, development management system such that any inspector is usually likely to reach the same determination in relation to any particular case. The larger the scheme the clearer it is to me that this is not the case,  for an obvious reason: a large element of the decision-making process involves determining how much weight to give to various material considerations, without prescriptive national guidance on calibration. I tried to address this in my 9 February 2024 blog post The Weighting Game. The new NPPF is more prescriptive, more rule-based, but inevitably a huge amount is still left to that black box we call “planning judgment” and that inevitably brings an element of our personal values to the table, however sub-consciously, in the balance of, for instance, heritage, economy, social issues, climate. Appeal Finder have a table identifying each planning inspector’s record in terms of his or her decision making. Whilst again we need to distinguish causation and correlation (a leading surgeon may have fewer successful patient outcomes than a surgeon doing less challenging cases), it always feels uncomfortable to me (on behalf of the client sitting next to me and in fact on behalf of the whole system that we all in some way serve) when the KC’s advice on appeal prospects is along the lines of between x and y % but dependent on knowing which inspector is appointed because for instance if it is going to be Mr or Ms A this is going to be very difficult but if it is going to be Mr or Ms B we stand a much better prospect. The client then asks “What can we do if we get Mr or Ms A?” and we all shrug our shoulders just like that emoji.

I would welcome your thoughts. All this seems to me to be pretty important to the roles that we all play in guiding clients through an uncertain, opaque system, and to how we make it clearer and more certain.

And on that theme…

I was so proud this week to see two initiatives by Town Legal colleagues come to fruition.

First, MHCLG’s consultation on Standard planning agreements for medium-sized sites (25 August 2026), with a series of proposed standard templates for section 106 agreements and unilateral undertakings in relation to residential developments of between 10 and 49 homes and up to 2.5 hectares.  These initial templates comprise draft standard clauses, schedules for financial contributions, councils’ covenants and affordable housing schedules, including a discretionary cascade mechanism (to be used where authorities consider appropriate) in the case of full permissions.  Meeta Kaur has led a large Town Legal team in this work for the Planning Advisory Service. We invite and encourage everyone to respond to the consultation process, by MHCLG’s 11:59 20 October deadline.

Secondly, a brilliant new podcast series on future facilities for women’s football, Built For Her Game, featuring Town Legal’s Victoria McKeegan alongside Sarah Rock (Boodle Hatfield), and Rebecca Burnhams (Quod). The first two, short and snappy, episodes are out now. The second episode is the first of a series of interviews with leaders in the sector, this first being Sue Day, director of women’s football at the Football Association. No mentions so far of the NPPF or of appeals or of anything at all like that. What not to like?

Simon Ricketts., 29 August 2026

Personal views, et cetera

[Image from Wikipedia of the classic visualisation of survivorship bias in statistics: It shows the hypothetical pattern of damage sustained by an aircraft that returned from combat. Reinforcing aircraft just in these areas would overlook the question of where non-surviving planes had been struck, fatally].

When Should Strategic Authority Mayors Be Able To Reverse Local Authority Planning Decisions?

The question goes both ways: if a local planning authority is minded to refuse a planning application, when should the mayor of a strategic authority be allowed to call in the application and potentially approve it? Conversely, if a local planning authority is minded to approve a planning application, when should a mayor be allowed to direct refusal?

The principle of giving mayors of strategic authorities the power to intervene in local decision making is not new – originally proposed in the December 2024 English Devolution White Paper and given statutory effect by way of section 33 of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 – and the operation in practice of the Mayor of London Order 2008 is of course very familiar in practice to those of us who work on projects within London.

However, that is not to say that today’s MHCLG consultation paper Planning powers for mayors in England August 2026) doesn’t raise some significant issues.

Perhaps the biggest change from what was envisaged in the white paper is that mayors’ powers to intervene are no longer proposed to be dependent on their authorities first having a spatial development strategy in place. It is said in the consultation paper that before SDS adoption a mayor would only be able to:

–              direct refusal of PSI applications where the development proposed would be detrimental to the area’s growth, and would be contrary to good strategic planning in the area

–              call in PSI applications if the development proposed would have a significant impact on the growth of the area, and there are sound planning reasons for intervention.

I do worry about this change, for three reasons.

First, it reduces the incentive for the authority to have an SDS in place.

Secondly, a mayor who is intent on standing in the way of a particular development or type of development – or indeed intent on supporting a scheme which is otherwise heading for a local refusal – will not find it particularly difficult to frame his or her intervention in terms which fall within these criteria. They don’t in practice provide much of a safeguard at all.

Thirdly, how can participants predict with any confidence whether the mayor might intervene (for or against), and if so on what grounds, without an SDS in place? What inappropriate negotiating lever might this give whoever is in that mayoral position?

Generally, how robust is this emerging system against the risk that those in positions of power may not have the proper positive planning of their area as their priority as against other political objectives?

Aside from that question, my other main thought at the moment is whether any concerns should arise from how what is set out in the consultation paper reflects very closely how the system operates in London:

  • Applications of potential strategic importance (“PSI applications” in the jargon) are defined by way of various detailed categories (e.g. proposals for at least 150 dwellings or at least 15,000 m2 of commercial floorspace)
  • The local planning authority would consult with the mayor when the PSI application is made (familiar to us in London as the stage 1 referral) and the mayor would give their views, indicating whether they have no wish for further involvement
  • Unless the mayor has indicated that he or she does not wish for further involvement,  the authority would notify the mayor of their ”minded to grant or refuse” decision (familiar to us in London as the stage 2 referral), giving the mayor 14 days to decide whether to intervene either by directing refusal or by calling the application in for the mayor’s own determination.
  • If the mayor calls in the application, he or she determines the application either by holding a hearing or (not previously the case in London) by written representations.
  • The Secretary of State can still call in the application at any time and if the mayor has refused the application, the applicant can appeal in the usual way.

It’s somewhat worrying that planning in London is being used as a blueprint for elsewhere in the country. It’s certainly no silver bullet. In London these procedures add significant time and complexity to application processes. The applicant will want to sound out the mayor’s team at an early stage on any major scheme, so pre-app discussions become more complicated. Negotiations with the mayor’s team often become as important as negotiations with the LPA’s team, particularly (in London) on issues such as affordable housing quantum and viability. Dilemmas arise on occasion: whether to follow LPA officers’ steer or that of the mayor’s team, because priorities will sometimes differ. In practice the stage 2 referral stage takes far longer than two weeks because the mayor’s team will ensure that the application package is not referred until all material issues have been ironed out, including having the section 106 agreement having reached an advanced stage with issues relevant to the mayor usually agreed. Particularly given the detail of the current London Plan, detailed negotiations will also be taking place on any number of detailed issues which if unresolved may lead to a risk of a direction of refusal. If an application is called in by the mayor, there may well be a lengthy further period where negotiations with the mayor’s team are needed to “improve” elements of the scheme or section 106 agreement package.

How this this complex dynamic going to play out in different mayoral strategic authorities? Isn’t the honest answer that no-one knows? It is partly going to come down to the political priorities of individual mayors and partly down to whether mayoral teams will be sufficiently well resourced and managed to deal with referred PSI applications in a timely, predictable and consistent basis.

So, given that this system is being introduced to encourage new homes and economic growth rather than to provide an additional brake or check on decision making, how sure are we that the additional administrative steps involved will not introduce more cost and uncertainty to the system than is outweighed by the opportunity on occasion for a mayor to step in and approve a scheme which the LPA was going to refuse? And has the system been stress tested as against the risk of (elected) bad actors?

What might be mitigations against these risks?

  • Perhaps going back to the concept of having these far-reaching powers only unlocked once a spatial development strategy is in place.
  • Perhaps increasing the PSI application thresholds, at least to begin with?
  • Perhaps closing loopholes that allow referral stage timescales to be elongated?

The consultation process runs until 5 October 2026.

Simon Ricketts, 24 August 2026

Personal views, et cetera

Mark-Up Of Final Version of NPPF vs Draft

Here’s one we prepared earlier: https://www.townlegal.com/wp-content/uploads/Redline-Compare-Draft-NPPF-December-2025-and-NPPF-August-2026.pdf .

By “we” I mean my colleague Archie Hunter, for which thanks (although any errors are mine – please do just use this as an indicative guide).

It’s interesting to see the editing process that has been underway at MHCLG, taking us from the December 2025 draft (see my 19 December 2025 blog post Framework Good Work) to today’s final version (17  August 2026).

Given that the policies in the new document take immediate effect in terms of decision-making, unfortunately we do all need to get our heads around its implications, in detail, without delay. Amongst all the tightening of language throughout,  there are various substantive changes. The two biggest I spotted are probably:

  • In a change from the approach floated in the consultation draft, no standardised viability inputs have been included. The circumstances in which a viability assessment is appropriate at application stage are stated in amended terms in policy DM5.
  • Residential and mixed-use development within reasonable walking distance of a well-connected railway station – the definition of “well-connected” has been extended to catch those within a top 80 rather than 60 travel to work area within England. “Reasonable walking distance” is defined as “around 800 metres, or around 10 minutes’ walk time if topography, route availability and quality or physical barriers would prevent or discourage walking from up to 800 metres away.”  Reduction in minimum density requirement to 35 dwellings per hectare from the previously proposed 40 dwellings per hectare. “Higher densities – of at least 45 dwellings per hectare – should be achieved where the service frequency is at least twice that of the minimum required for a well-connected station” unless inappropriate or not possible. These “minimum densities […] should be exceeded where possible, especially in areas of high connectivity, to optimise the efficient use of land. The Connectivity Tool (Connectivity Tool – GOV.UK) should be used alongside other relevant quantitative or qualitative evidence in assessing the connectivity of particular locations proposed for development.”

More broadly there is some watering down of the requirement in policy L3 that development proposals for residential and mixed-use development should contribute to an increase in the density of the area in which they are situated: “where there is a clear justification that this is either inappropriate or not possible (for example, where the prevailing density is already very high, the nature of the accommodation required precludes higher densities, or where it would conflict with other policies in this Framework).”

MHCLG’s own summary of top 10 changes made from the draft are set out in its policy paper Creating a clear, rules-based planning system (also published today):

Aside from scrolling down our mark-up, it is also useful to look at MHCLG’s response to consultation document, also published today, which sets out the background to the approach taken in relation to the various elements of the draft that were consulted upon. There are useful indications in the document as to what further we can expect, e.g.

Viability

“…the government has decided to not take forward a technical annex to include standardised inputs in viability assessment.

While we understand the need for a consistent framework for evaluating development proposals and certainty in the viability assessment process, we consider that further engagement is needed with local planning authorities, developers, development surveyors and other key stakeholders. This will ensure that any changes are thoroughly tested prior to implementation. Viability Planning Practice Guidance will continue to provide guidance on standardised inputs – and policy DM5 is clear that viability assessment should be carried out in accordance with this guidance. The government appreciates the feedback received and will use it to inform a wider update of the Planning Practice Guidance, to be published as soon as possible. 

In relation to review mechanisms, the government proposes that these should be considered through the local plan process under policy PM12. Policy DM5(6) has

therefore been removed. Further guidance on the use of review mechanisms will also be published in due course.” [my emboldening]

Section 73/106A

“Respondents generally highlighted the need to improve the efficiency, clarity and consistency of the process for modifying planning obligations under section 106A, while maintaining confidence that agreed affordable housing and infrastructure contributions will be delivered. Relatedly, some respondents suggested that further guidance on the interpretation and application of s106A legislation, or standard templates to support the modification process, could be developed. 

Many respondents raised concern about the submission of section 73 applications to obtain planning permission with a lower level of affordable housing or other obligations. Respondents emphasised that any proposed reductions to affordable housing or other contributions should be robustly evidenced. 

The government has considered these responses and acknowledges the need for a more detailed review of the statutory framework for amending planning obligations. The government will use the feedback received through this consultation to inform that review and set out further details in due course.”

Conditions

“Working with the Planning Inspectorate, the government will develop a suite of national model conditions and begin publishing these before the end of the year. In developing these, the government will work closely with the sector and will provide guidance to support their use in practice.”

Standardising section 106 agreements for medium sized development

“Revisions have been made to policy DM6(4) to align with the approach for planning conditions so that, where national model planning obligations are relevant to a

development, they should be used unless there are strong reasons to depart from them. The government is taking forward a programme of work with the Planning Advisory Service to support and streamline the process of section 106 agreements, with an initial focus on medium sites. The government will consult on draft standard template planning agreements for medium sites, which are designed to reduce delays and resource burdens on local planning authorities and SME housebuilders. “

Neighbourhood plans

“In response to consultation feedback, the government will also update Planning Practice Guidance to provide greater clarity on neighbourhood plan preparation, including site allocations and the consideration of local housing need. This will set clear expectations for collaborative working between local planning authorities and neighbourhood planning groups, and the use of local evidence to inform housing requirements and delivery.”

Specific housing needs

“…the government will publish updated guidance in due course to assist local authorities in assessing the housing needs of different groups, including older people and disabled people.”

Affordable housing commuted sums

“…the government recognises that challenges remain, particularly for SME developers where there is limited registered provider appetite to acquire small numbers of Section 106 affordable homes. To help address this, the government will publish guidance to improve clarity, consistency and confidence in the use of commuted sums”.

“This will include consideration of how guidance can support effective deployment of contributions in practice, alongside work on standardised planning agreements, including whether standardised clauses could support the use of cash-in-lieu payments.”

Housing Delivery Tests

MHCLG today finally published the 2024 and 2025 HDT results.

The consultation response document says this:

“As part of wider efforts to simplify and streamline Housing Delivery Test calculations, the government has also implemented changes to the way the Housing Delivery Test has been calculated, informed by sector feedback outside of this consultation. This includes the removal of unmet need adjustments to Local Housing Need calculations. Unmet need is often inconsistently identified across local plans, making it complex and challenging to apply adjustments consistently, and resulting in some areas being measured against targets which did not accurately reflect need in their area. This change means that local authorities will be measured against either their plan requirement (where any agreed unmet need being taken or transferred to neighbouring authorities is already reflected within these figures), or Local Housing Need. The government considers this provides a more accurate and transparent measure of an area’s housing requirement in the Housing Delivery Test. This change has been applied to the 2024 and 2025 Housing Delivery Test results.

Further, in recognition that it can take time for new housing targets to be reflected in housing delivery figures, the government has introduced a transitional arrangement for the new standard method (published in December 2024) to apply to the Housing Delivery Test. This transitional arrangement means the previous version of the standard method will continue to be used to calculate Local Housing Need until the 2026/27 measurement year.”

Permission in Principle

“The government has considered these responses and is minded to proceed with extending Permission in Principle to medium-sized development, subject to further engagement with the sector. The government agrees that this will enable applicants, particularly SME builders, to test the acceptability of development on more sites without the full cost of a planning application. However, it recognises concerns about making decisions on the principle of development for this scale of development in the absence of mitigations, and will explore the issue further and ensure that there are adequate safeguards before making changes to secondary legislation.”

Lastly, MHCLG also published today (17 August 2026) the government’s response to its consultation on reforms to the statutory consultee system.

Enough for now? I think so.

Simon Ricketts, 17 August 2026

Personal views, et cetera

Talkin’ Bout A Devolution

In a week where Andy Burnham committed to go further than the government’s current programme in terms of devolution, by way of the 31 July 2026 Rewiring the State cabinet statement, it was ironic to see a couple of news pieces that perhaps reveal politicians’ day to day attitude to local government:

“Badenoch suggested the convicted criminal would not be allowed to stand as an MP, but that his ambition to be a councillor was legitimate. “I’m not giving him a national platform, he is standing to be a councillor in Somerset … it is a local platform looking at parking, sorting out bins.”

(Badenoch defends decision to allow man jailed for antisemitism to stand as councillor, The Guardian, 5 August 2026)

““The government is devolving new licensing powers to the mayor [of London] to help support pubs and nightlife. Soho did not become world famous by taking last orders early, switching the lights off at 10 o’clock.

“The prime minister encourages local leaders to work with the industry so that pubs can continue to thrive.”

The government is due to grant new powers to the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, allowing him to “call in” local council decisions he opposes.

Khan said of the proposals on X: “You can’t run a world-famous nightlife district with a village-hall mindset.”

A spokesperson for the mayor previously said he was against “restrictive and anti-growth policies” and said he hoped to use new powers to be granted to him by the government to stop councils from overreaching.”

(‘It is British life’: No 10 vows to stop councils trying to limit standing in pubs, The Guardian, 6 August 2026)

The cabinet paper is intriguing and heralds some fairly immediate changes. Watch for the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement on 28 October 2026 and ahead of that any further hints at the labour party conference at the end of next month.

There is of course already a hugely ambitious English devolution process underway, pursuant to the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026, the main elements of which I initially summarised in my 11 July 2025 blog post A Bluffer’s Guide To The English Devolution And Community Empowerment Bill. The National Audit Office published a report on 1 July 2026 with accompanying press release MHCLG advances devolution plans with expansion of Strategic Authorities and local funding powers confirming that good progress was being made, albeit recognising that “there is a clear tension between departments’ responsibilities and the ambition of the English Devolution White Paper that central government should end the top-down micromanagement of decisions and approaches by local leaders and replace it with a principle of locally accountable autonomy. This tension will need to be resolved, and local accountability arrangements substantially strengthened and tested, before the devolution of funding and accountability can be considered to be working effectively to support improved outcomes for local people “.

So, what is new for England in the latest cabinet statement? Will it address that tension? There’s a lot that could well make a big difference – particularly greater retention of business rates for strategic and local authorities and a slice of local income tax for mayoral authorities. I can now see more clearly how strategic authorities’ spatial development strategies will truly be (as Catriona Riddell has always advocated) the key strategic investment framework for each area.

  • “…empowering mayors to offer a high-quality locally tailored technical or vocational route from age 16, underpinned by control of the budget for 16- to 19-year-olds.”
  • “In respect of transport, we will support mayors to take public control of buses more rapidly and implement fully integrated ticketing systems, alongside our work with local leaders to support active travel options. We will give local leaders more control over commuter rail services, with the most established mayors working in much deeper partnership with Great British Railways. As we introduce new accountability arrangements, we will also remove the need for government approval of locally funded transport schemes for places with integrated settlements, except those that interact with the national network. We will immediately raise the approval threshold to £500 million and work with mayors to replace the concept of “retained schemes” with Local Transport Infrastructure Partnerships. We will also reform our approach to working in partnership with the most strategically significant or complex local projects, drawing on the experience of delivering the Elizabeth Line.”
  • “Mayors will be equipped to support the building of council homes, including through greater devolution of the Social and Affordable Homes Programme and investment to upgrade to warmer homes, and we will strengthen the framework for public development corporations to drive local housing and infrastructure development.”
  • “We will support mayors to foster local innovation ecosystems, devolving a substantially increased share of later-stage innovation funding to local leaders so they can back opportunities with the greatest potential for local growth.”
  • “We will also empower mayors to ensure their regions are thriving places to live as well as work by giving local people – including young people – greater control of how cultural and sporting investment is decided in their regions. This could include funding currently controlled by Arts Council England and Sport England, whilst ensuring individual cultural funding decisions are taken outside of political interference.”
  • “These reforms will be augmented by supporting mayors to establish Good Growth Funds across the country, backed by national Public Financial Institutions and supported by the Local Government Pension Scheme as a key local investor, to assist mayors in investing for the long term in their local economies. We will also support local places to reindustrialise by building on frontier sector and cluster strengths.”
  • “Through devolution, we will ensure services work together as a single coherent system built around the priorities of people and places. We will therefore give areas more local democratic control over their public services, from health to policing to education, including through the establishment of deputy mayor roles with responsibility for key public services. To enable this, we will align key public service boundaries. This will include new local police units aligning with local authorities, and regional police forces, fire and rescue services and Integrated Care Boards aligning with the boundaries of strategic authorities by the end of the Parliament. Where there are strong financial, strategic or operational reasons for larger organisations, this alignment may be to the boundaries of multiple, rather than just one, strategic authority. We will also enable greater alignment and pooling of funding for preventative services by devolving funding, where possible, allowing strategic authorities and constituent local authorities to invest in joint support, as long as national standards are being met.”
  • “We have … agreed to overhaul the way regional government is funded, starting by replacing grants from central government with a share of local income tax for every mayor beginning in 2028, such that where a region grows its tax base, it benefits from the increased receipts. This will sit alongside greater retention of the revenue from business rates for local councils and strategic authorities. The long-term certainty of funding via taxation will provide more flexibility and enable greater investment to fund interventions that will deliver a return. We will consider how these growth incentives can be balanced with the need for fairness between places, recognising that there will be different starting points across the country. We will also give all strategic authorities the ability to introduce an Overnight Visitor Levy, with local leaders able to set out plans for how revenues will be invested by March 2028.“
  • “We also discussed the large regional disparities between current levels of public investment per head in different parts of the country. Alongside our programme of fiscal devolution, we will therefore rebalance public investment, including considering the balance of subsidy and other finance mechanisms, to ensure we are backing growth opportunities in all parts of the country. This will be supported by considering how areas could benefit from increased land values from housing and infrastructure development, strengthening their ability and incentives to invest.”
  • “The government wants all areas that are ready to have a mayor as soon as possible, as long as there is strong local support. We will therefore invite all areas without strategic authorities to confirm their preference as to whether the strategic authority for their area should be mayoral or not. Where areas are not ready to adopt a mayor, the government will work with them to set up non-mayoral foundation strategic authorities with an enhanced set of powers, including the option to introduce an Overnight Visitor Levy. In line with the existing designation criteria, we have also conferred established mayoral strategic authority status to four further areas: Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, East Midlands, West of England, and York and North Yorkshire.”
  • “There will be a stronger role for the Local Audit Office, and we will discuss with the National Audit Office how it can complement this. The outcomes framework for mayoral strategic authorities will also be streamlined to ensure that the government and the public can hold mayors accountable for good growth and addressing inequalities in their area. This will be supported by a strengthened focus on timely and accurate place-based data from the Office for National Statistics and other bodies that will support outcomes-based decision making in places. We will also ensure that there is a clear role for Members of Parliament in local accountability, working with mayors and local councillors.”
  • “…the government will take forward a programme of reform to support the financial sustainability of local authorities. This will include retention of more of the business rates raised locally instead of receiving grants from central government, and ongoing and future reforms to the highest cost services: adult and children’s social care, homelessness, and special educational needs and disabilities.”
  • “We agreed to replace the current model of consultation by default with new and modern forms of public participation. This includes considering where performative statutory duties to consult can be revoked and how we can more actively bring the public into the policy-making process instead.”
  • “Over the coming weeks and months, we will confirm our plans for the design of the Overnight Visitor Levy, activate mayoral intervention powers in the planning system, devolve decisions on Transport and Works Act Orders, and streamline the number of targets that mayors have to report on in relation to their integrated settlements.”

On timing:

  • “This autumn, alongside the Budget and fiscal devolution roadmap that will set out our overall approach to revenue assignment and rates retention, we will publish a white paper detailing our plans for the full set of reforms and a clear timetable for their implementation. This will include plans for legislation, the alignment of public service geographies, and the devolution of new powers and functions. The timetable for implementation will be informed by close work with mayors to consider how we can best build the necessary local delivery capacity and capability.
  • “Next year, fiscal devolution will begin with mayors retaining a share of business rates from April 2027 and securing powers to introduce the Overnight Visitor Levy. We will also establish a new wave of strategic authorities, with new mayors elected in Cumbria, and in Cheshire and Warrington, next May. We will use the upcoming Spending Review to confirm the detailed arrangements for retained income tax, with receipts retained locally from April 2028. And, in spring 2028, a further wave of new mayors will be elected”.

Viva la devolution.

Simon Ricketts 7 August 2026

Personal views et cetera

JR Risk

There was the usual rush of case hand-downs ahead of the end of the court term last week. Some of them caused me to reflect on this thing we talk about with clients all the time: JR risk. Even an unsuccessful judicial review of a planning permission can cause huge delays and problems for the developer (and don’t some objectors, often protected against any significant costs exposure even if they are unsuccessful, know it?) and if one or more of your grounds actually lands in your favour, back the decision goes for re-determination, possibly against a different political or economic background: bonanza…

I was also thinking about the government’s 16 July 2026 consultation paper Judicial Review Reforms Beyond Nationally Significant Infrastructure. Following on from its reforms to the judicial review process in relation to nationally significant infrastructure projects (see my 31 May 2026 blog post Keeping Up: JR Changes, Deadlines, the government is now considering a series of proposals that might be introduced more broadly to developments consented under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and Transport and Works Act 1992. These include:

  • removing the paper permission stage and for removing the right of appeal for cases which are deemed totally without merit at the oral permission hearing – whether for all planning cases or just for major infrastructure projects and other strategically important developments;
  • designating all claims relating to ‘major infrastructure projects’ and other ‘strategically important developments’ as “Significant Planning Court Claims” so that target timescales for dealing with the case apply and so as to ensure that each case is reviewed by the Planning Liaison Judge to ensure it is allocated to a judge with an appropriate level of expertise;
  • encouraging the use of case management conferences – whether for all planning cases or just for major infrastructure projects and other strategically important developments;
  • applying more broadly the new target timescales that will apply to nationally significant infrastructure project claims from 1 October 2026, namely: shortened deadlines for the service of the pre-permission documents from seven days to three; target timescale for having the oral permission hearing three weeks from the claimant’s deadline for filing a reply to the acknowledgment of service; shortened deadline for filing and serving the detailed grounds of defence from 35 to 28 days.
  • extending the target timescales for NSIP appeals in the Court of Appeal to ‘major infrastructure projects’ and other ‘strategically important developments’, namely (1) for permission to appeal: determination to be given four weeks from the application for permission to appeal and (2) for the hearing of a substantive appeal: four months from the application for permission to appeal.

Consultation responses are invited by 27 August 2026.

I can see that much of this is sensible tightening of processes and timescales – indeed it is exactly what we need with the actual planning application process but that is another story. Will it serve to dissuade meritless claims or materially reduce “JR risk”? I’m not so sure.

So what can we do, as planning lawyers and planners, to reduce JR risk on any potential project? It is so difficult. The uncomfortable reality is that the system now has almost countless legal trip hazards, given the numerous overlapping legislative regimes at play. Of course we can try to make the planning application “legally bullet-proof”, by way of (now the norm on larger projects) a legal audit of the draft application package; we can seek to make sure that there are no procedural slip-ups on the part of the local planning authority; we can review the planning committee report (even in draft, the High Court has recently confirmed: see my 12 July 2026 blog post Draft Planning Committee Reports: Sharing Is Caring) and seek to rectify before the decision any errors that we see. But there is always the residual risk that something has slipped through, and for sure the claimant will be looking to identify as many grounds as are seen to have any real mileage, because they only need to win on one ground and in litigation (particularly public law litigation) there are very few legal areas of absolute certainty. Some clients may indeed be driven to take out an insurance policy against the financial impacts of a judicial review, which has its place although inevitably expensive and not a panacea.

Without commentary on the specific legal rights and wrongs, these were some of the recent cases that caught my eye:

Guardians of Whitewebbs Park CIC v London Borough of Enfield (Sir Tim Kerr sitting as a judge of the High Court, 27 July 2026)

This was the quashing of planning permission for the proposed redevelopment of a former golf course in the green belt to provide Tottenham Hotspur’s women’s and girls’ football training academy together with associated development. The land is owned by Enfield Council which had entered into an agreement for lease with the council, which had then in due course granted planning permission. The permission was challenged by claimant on six grounds, one of which was abandoned before the full hearing of the case. Whilst the judge rejected grounds that alleged that the officer’s report had misinterpreted or misapplied a local plan policy in relation to heritage assets, that the report had not properly considered the scheme’s impacts on the openness of the green belt and that there had been apparent bias on the part of the council, the judge allowed the claim on the basis that (1) there was a breach of section 100D of the Local Government Act 1972 given that two background papers had not been published alongside the officer’s report that would have showed a disagreement between expert ecologists about whether the required biodiversity net gain (BNG) could be achieved and that (2) the planning committee had been materially misled by officers in relation to concerns about whether the required BNG could be achieved.

It is interesting to note that the council was defending the claim until shortly before the June 2026 hearing but, following the change of political control of the council the previous month, it informed the court that it would no longer defend the case, leaving Spurs to contest the claim.

The planning committee resolved to approve the application on 11 February 2025 and whilst the claimant did request reconsideration of that decision, this was not any of the grounds on which the judicial review was eventually brought. Only after the permission was eventually issued on 22 July 2025 was a “lengthy and detailed pre-action protocol letter from the claimant’s solicitors” sent on 2 August 2025 – by which time it was of course too late for the council or applicant to do anything about the grounds pleaded.

R (Staunch Campaign Limited) v North Northamptonshire Council (Sir Peter Lane, 30 July 2026)

This was an unsuccessful challenge by a local campaign group to planning permission granted for a large commercial development. The claimant relied on five grounds of challenge, all based on alleged breaches of the Conservation of Habitats Regulations 2017 in the way in which the council had determined the application.

R (Royal Mint Court Residents’ Association) v Secretary of State (Dingemans LLJ and Lieven J, 31 July 2026

This was the unsuccessful challenge to the government’s decision to grant planning permission for the proposed new Chinese Embassy at Royal Mint Court, just to the east of the Tower of London. Again there were five grounds of challenge  on a variety of grounds: unlawful approach to the enforcement of planning conditions and obligations (given the identity of the People’s Republic of China as the applicant); unlawful failure to disclose a Security Statement (summarising a risk assessment that had been commissioned by the PRC) and a Blast Assessment (commissioned by the local planning authority); non-compliance with Article 7 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) England Order 2015 (on the basis that applications were redacted so as not to show all internal room layouts proposed), and unlawful failure to identify and assess human rights.

We also had the publicity given to the apparent end to another east London planning law saga, the Holborn Studios litigation, ten years after the first planning permission was granted (later quashed in 2017 following a judicial review brought by Holborn Studios) for redevelopment of a building then occupied by Holborn Studios. A second planning permission was granted in 2019 and then again quashed in 2020 following a judicial review again brought by the same claimant. Planning permission was then granted for a third time, by a planning inspector on appeal, in 2024 and was quashed by the High Court in 2025. Landmark Chambers has announced Court of Appeal allows appeal in Holborn Studios litigation although in fact unusually the appeal was allowed by way of a consent order dated 17 July agreed between the parties and endorsed by the court, following Holborn Studios having been placed in administration. Ten years…!

It would be interesting to reflect on whether the government’s latest proposals to reform judicial review would have enabled any of these disputes to have been resolved at an earlier stage (I doubt it) and indeed what else might be effective. For instance, in some cases surely there may be a role for what I suggested in my 12 July 2026 blog post:

“The data in relation to any large scheme can be complex and nuanced. And if there is a mistake, a potential claimant for judicial review currently (ridiculously) has the luxury of being able to stay quiet, deliberately, until the permission is issued, perhaps months later after the section 106 agreement has been completed, before then popping up with his or her grounds of challenge once it is too late for the council or applicant to do anything about them (the obvious solution would be for the High Court’s pre-action protocol in relation to judicial review in the Planning Court to set out an expectation that a potential claimant should usually send its pre-action letter promptly once it ascertains that grounds for potential challenge have first arisen rather than being able to wait until the permission has issued but I’ve said that too many times to no effect).”

There I’ve said it again.

Simon Ricketts, 1 August 2026

Personal views, et cetera