The National Housing Federation has welcomed the publication of the 'unofficial' National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), produced by Planning Minister Greg Clark's advisory group.

Last December, Mr Clark announced a review of planning policy, designed to consolidate all policy statements, circulars and guidance documents into a single, simpler NPPF.

The Government intends the new framework to be user-friendly and accessible with clear policies for making robust local and neighbourhood plans and development management decisions.

As part of this review, Greg Clark invited Gary Porter of the LGA, Simon Marsh of the RSPB, Pete Andrew of Taylor Wimpey and John Rhodes of Quod Planning to form an advisory group to provide a practitioners perspective on what the NPPF should contain.

In response to the group's proposals, David Orr, chief executive of the National Housing Federation, said: "The advisory group are to be commended on the production of their draft NPPF. It’s a significant and substantial contribution to the reform of England’s planning system.


"There is much to welcome, including their commitment to a plan-led system that prioritises the meeting of housing need and demand. The group's recommendation of a robust presumption in favour of sustainable development could help in achieving a long overdue step-change in building more affordable and market homes.

"However we cannot support the group’s recommendation of a move away from the on-site provision of affordable homes in private housing developments.

"A decent society is not one that is segregated by wealth or type of housing. Neighbourhoods should be mixed and the planning system should support that.

"A significant increase in the use of commuted sums would be good news for private housebuilders but would inevitably result in a big reduction in the delivery of new affordable homes, especially in the south of England.

"On-site provision of affordable homes guarantees that a fair share of the huge value uplift from the granting of planning permission for market homes is used to help meet acute housing need. The group’s alternative of commuted sums would instead provide payments to cash-strapped councils which might be diverted from the meeting of housing need to other purposes.

"If the Government's aspiration for 150,000 new affordable homes over the next four years is to be met, it’s vital the reformed planning system continues to prioritise supporting the delivery of new affordable and specialist and supported homes for the millions of people in acute housing need."

(CD)