The publication of the new National Planning Policy Framework marks a significant milestone in the Government’s planning reform programme, aimed at accelerating housebuilding and supporting economic growth.
For those of us involved in promoting land and bringing forward development, there is much to welcome. The direction of travel is increasingly clear, national policy is becoming more rules-based and the Government is seeking to create greater certainty about where development should be supported.
But we believe the biggest question facing the planning system is no longer simply whether the right policies are in place.
It is whether there is sufficient capacity at a local level to turn those policies into planning permissions, deliverable sites and ultimately new homes.
A new NPPF changes the planning landscape
The Government published the new NPPF on 17 August 2026 following consultation on a substantially restructured Framework.
Importantly, the new Framework separates policies relating to plan-making from national policies governing decision-making. The Government’s intention is to create a more consistent and predictable development management system, reducing duplication between national and local policy and limiting unjustified local departures from national policy.
The national decision-making policies took effect immediately.
There are also significant changes for the development industry.
The Framework strengthens support for development around well-connected railway stations, increases the emphasis on making efficient use of land and achieving appropriate densities, and formally recognises the particular role of strategic sites of around 1,500 homes or more.
Taken alongside the planning reforms introduced over the past two years, including changes to Green Belt policy and the Planning and Infrastructure Act, there is now a considerably stronger national policy platform for housing and economic growth.
For landowners, this means sites which may previously have faced significant planning obstacles could warrant fresh consideration.
At Muller Property Group, we are continually reviewing land against changes in national and local policy. The new NPPF reinforces the importance of taking a proactive approach: understanding a site’s constraints, its relationship with existing settlements and infrastructure, its sustainability credentials and how it could contribute towards meeting local housing and development needs.
Policy certainty is only part of the answer
A clearer national framework should give landowners, developers and investors greater confidence.
However, national policy cannot deliver development on its own.
Local planning authorities remain responsible for an enormous amount of the work required to translate national ambition into development on the ground. They must prepare and update plans, assess increasingly complex applications, engage with communities, coordinate with statutory consultees and infrastructure providers, and make decisions capable of withstanding scrutiny.
All of this comes at a time when many planning departments continue to face significant pressures on resources and specialist expertise.
This matters because the Government is simultaneously asking the planning system to move faster.
A more rules-based NPPF may remove some uncertainty and reduce unnecessary debate, but applications still need to be assessed. Local Plans still need to progress. Technical matters still need to be resolved and planning obligations still need to be agreed.
If local authority planning teams do not have sufficient experienced officers, specialist support, technology and resources, there is a danger that the bottleneck simply moves.
The Government itself appears to recognise this. Alongside publication of the new NPPF, it has confirmed that further work will continue to support local authority capacity and capability, as well as updating Planning Practice Guidance and implementing the Planning and Infrastructure Act.
That work will be critical.
Strategic development needs experienced teams on both sides
The recognition of strategic sites within the new NPPF is particularly significant.
Larger developments can make a substantial contribution towards housing requirements while delivering the infrastructure, open space, community facilities and other benefits needed to support sustainable growth.
But strategic sites are also inherently complex.
They require significant investment long before a planning permission is secured. Transport, drainage, ecology, landscape, education, utilities, viability and infrastructure all need to be understood and coordinated.
Successful delivery therefore depends on experienced teams working constructively on both sides of the planning process.
As land promoters and developers, we have a responsibility to bring forward robust, technically informed proposals and engage early with councils, communities and other stakeholders. Equally, local authorities need the resources and expertise to assess those proposals efficiently and provide clear direction.
When that relationship works, complex sites can move forward with greater confidence.
When it does not, even land strongly supported by national policy can become caught in a lengthy planning process.
An opportunity for landowners
For landowners, the combination of the new NPPF and wider planning reforms makes this an important time to reassess the development potential of land.
That does not mean every site will suddenly become suitable for development. Planning remains highly dependent on location, constraints, infrastructure and local circumstances.
But the policy environment has changed significantly.
Land on the edge of settlements, land close to sustainable transport connections, larger strategic opportunities and sites whose prospects may previously have been constrained by planning policy could now merit a fresh appraisal.
Our approach at Muller Property Group is to identify these opportunities early and undertake the planning, technical and environmental work required to establish whether a site has a realistic route through the planning system.
We fund and manage that process for landowners, from the initial assessment and planning strategy through to securing consent and preparing land for sale to the development market.
Turning reform into delivery
The new NPPF represents a significant milestone for the development industry.
Greater certainty, clearer national decision-making policies and stronger support for appropriate development should all help create the conditions needed to increase housing delivery.
But the real test of planning reform will not be the number of new policies published.
It will be the number of sustainable developments that actually progress through the system.
For that to happen, national ambition must be matched by local delivery. Councils need sufficient planning capacity, developers and land promoters need to bring forward well-considered proposals, and both sides need to work collaboratively to resolve issues and unlock suitable sites.
The opportunity is there. The next challenge is ensuring the planning system has the capacity to deliver it.
The scale of that challenge should not be underestimated.
The Government has itself recognised that local planning authority development management services have faced a substantial funding shortfall. Its latest reforms seek to address this through a new national planning fee structure, intended to recover around 90% of the estimated cost of processing applications, alongside new powers allowing councils to set fees locally where they can demonstrate that their costs are higher.
We welcome measures which genuinely improve the resources available to planning departments. For developers and land promoters, a higher planning fee can be justified if it results in a better-resourced, more responsive and more predictable planning service.
But additional funding must translate into additional capacity. The measure of success should not simply be how much an application costs to submit, but whether authorities can recruit and retain experienced planners, access the specialist expertise required to assess complex schemes and determine applications within reasonable timescales.
