Open consultation

Design and Placemaking Planning Practice Guidance

Published 21 January 2026

Applies to England

This consultation seeks views on the usability of our proposed consolidation of the Design and Placemaking Planning Practice Guidance.

Scope of the consultation

This draft Planning Practice Guidance (PPG) is intended to support the application of policies in the draft National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) 2025, which is currently being consulted upon. It outlines and illustrates the government’s priorities for well-designed places, and how planning policies and decisions should support this.

Four existing guidance documents have been consolidated into a single streamlined resource, now called the draft Design and Placemaking PPG. The 4 existing documents are:

• National design guide
• Design process and tools planning practice guidance
• National Model Design Code part 1
• National Model Design Code part 2

The aim is to make design guidance clearer, more accessible, and easier to apply in practice.

Relationship to the NPPF consultation

These consultation questions relate specifically to the draft Design and Placemaking PPG. All comments on the design policies within Chapter 14 of the draft NPPF, particularly the key principles for well-designed places and the design process, should be made to the NPPF consultation.                                                                            

Geographical scope

These proposals relate to England only.

Body/bodies responsible for the consultation

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).

Duration

This consultation will last for 7 weeks from 21 January 2026 to 11:45pm on 10 March 2026.

Enquiries

For any enquiries about the consultation email: designquality@communities.gov.uk.

How to respond

This draft is published for comment to inform engagement with the sector and gather feedback on the draft design guidance.

This feedback is generally being sought on the practical application of the guidance rather than its overall content. Whilst it is not standard practice for MHCLG to consult on planning guidance updates, we are consulting on this draft guidance to seek views on whether this consolidated approach improves usability and supports preparation of effective design and placemaking policies, tools and processes.

Your views will help us understand whether the draft is accessible, usable, and supports effective design and placemaking, and where improvements may be needed.

We welcome responses to the questions set out below. Please submit comments by 11:45pm on 10 March 2026.

Respond to the consultation using the online survey.

Citizen Space is the department’s preferred route for receiving responses. We strongly encourage responses to be made via Citizen Space, particularly from organisations with access to online facilities such as local planning authorities, representative bodies, and businesses.

Using Citizen Space greatly assists our analysis of responses, enabling more efficient and effective consideration of the issues raised.

Respondents should not cite previous questions or remark ‘see above’. Due to the way the consultation responses are processed we cannot guarantee your comments will be captured if replying in this way. Any points you wish to raise in response to a question should be set out in full as part of that question’s response.

If you cannot respond via Citizen Space, you may send your response by email to: designquality@communities.gov.uk.

Written responses should be sent to: 

Design and Placemaking Team,
Chief Planner Directorate,
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government,
Third Floor,
Fry Building,
2 Marsham Street,
London,
SW1P 4DF

When you respond, it would be very useful if you can confirm whether you are replying as an individual or submitting an official response on behalf of an organisation and include: 

• your name 
• the name of your organisation (if applicable) 

Please make it clear which question each comment relates to and ensure that the text of your response is in a format that allows copying of individual sentences or paragraphs, to help us when considering your view on particular issues.

Thank you for taking time to submit responses to this consultation. Your views will help improve and shape our national design and placemaking guidance.

Introduction

The draft Design and Placemaking Planning Practice Guidance illustrates how well-designed places that are healthy, resilient, green, beautiful, enduring and successful can be achieved in practice. It will form a key part of the government’s collection of planning practice guidance.

This draft guidance offers practical advice on creating high-quality places and buildings. Its aim is to outline and illustrate the government’s design priorities providing advice on the seven features of well-design places, design quality in the planning process, and setting effective design codes.

The draft guidance is formed of 3 parts.

Part 1: Seven features of well-designed places

Sets out seven features of well-designed places and their intended design and placemaking outcomes.   

Explains how design principles for each feature should inform the preparation of plans, design policies, guidance and proposals for new development.

Informs planning decisions where relevant, including in the absence of local design policies, design guides or design codes, as set out in the National Planning Policy Framework.

Part 2: Design quality in the planning process

Explains how design quality can be integrated throughout the plan-making process.

Provides guidance on design tools and processes within the planning system, including masterplans, local design codes, and design guidance.   

Explains how design can be effectively integrated and considered in decision-making.

Part 3: Setting effective design codes

Explains how local design codes can set technical requirements for different design issues to support the creation of liveable places.

Provides guidance on applying design codes appropriately across different scales and contexts.

MHCLG intends to publish a series of Model Design Codes. The Design and Placemaking Planning Practice Guidance should be read alongside these once they are published. The Model Design Codes will be expanded over time to create a catalogue of template design codes which local planning authorities can apply or adapt to their local context.

Consultation questions

About you questions

Question 1

What is your name?

Question 2

What is your email address?

Question 3

What is your organisation?

Question 4

What type of organisation are you representing?

• personal view
• local authority
• neighbourhood planning body, parish or town council
• developer
• other private sector organisation
• professional body
• interest group or voluntary organisation
• other (please specify)

Question 5

If you answered ‘other’, please provide further details.

Usability of the draft design and placemaking PPG

The draft Design and Placemaking PPG has been published to support the implementation of the draft NPPF which is currently being consulted on.

The draft PPG consolidates the 4 existing guidance documents (National Design Guide, Design Process and Tools Planning Practice Guidance, National Model Design Code Parts 1 and 2) into a single streamlined resource.

This approach has been informed by user feedback and the design code pathfinder programme. The aim is to make design guidance clearer, more accessible, and easier to apply in practice.

We are seeking views on whether this consolidated approach improves usability and supports preparation of effective design and placemaking policies, tools and processes.

Question 6

Do you agree that the usability and effectiveness of the draft Design and Placemaking PPG has improved?

Question 7

Are there any aspects where clarity, accessibility, or practical application could be improved to better support design and placemaking outcomes?

Inclusivity of the draft Design and Placemaking PPG

Following the proposed approach to incorporate policies relating to traveller sites in the relevant chapters of the draft NPPF, we are seeking views on whether the draft Design and Placemaking PPG is suitable to ensure it supports inclusive design for all.

The draft guidance sets out principles for creating well-designed places that are inclusive, sustainable, and responsive to diverse community needs.

However, it is important to ensure that these principles also reflect the specific cultural, social, and practical requirements of traveller sites where there can be distinct patterns of living, site layout requirements and infrastructure needs.

Question 8

Do you agree that the principles set out in the draft Design and Placemaking PPG adequately address the needs and requirements of traveller sites?

Question 9

What additional considerations or clarifications might be necessary to ensure planning practice guidance supports inclusive and culturally appropriate design and placemaking?

Effectiveness of tools within the draft Design and Placemaking PPG

Tools such as Model Design Codes can play a crucial role in accelerating the preparation of local design guidance. By providing a clear, nationally consistent framework and templates, they reduce the need for authorities to start from scratch, saving time and resources while ensuring alignment with good practice.

Model Design Codes will offer a structured approach that can be adapted to local context, helping to streamline engagement, improve clarity for stakeholders, and support faster implementation of design standards. This can lead to more efficient plan-making and greater certainty for developers and communities.

MHCLG intends to publish a series of Model Design Codes. These will be template design codes for common development types such as large house builder led sites and small urban sites, helping local planning authorities save time and resources by avoiding the need to create local design codes for repeatable development types. For example, Model Design Codes for small urban sites will provide clarity on what design is acceptable, creating certainty for SME housebuilders and promoting the efficient use of plot types that are common across different local planning authorities. This will make it simpler for local planning authorities to determine design matters on the smallest sites, freeing up resource to focus on large and complex applications.

The Design and Placemaking PPG should be read alongside the Model Design Codes once they are published. We intend to monitor their use and, if successful, create a catalogue of template design codes which local planning authorities can apply or adapt to their local context.

Question 10

Do you agree that tools, such as model design codes, could speed up the preparation of local design codes?

Question 11

What other tools would support this?

About this consultation

This consultation document and consultation process have been planned to adhere to the Consultation Principles issued by the Cabinet Office.

Representative groups are asked to give a summary of the people and organisations they represent, and where relevant who else they have consulted in reaching their conclusions when they respond.

Information provided in response to this consultation may be published or disclosed in accordance with the access to information regimes (these are primarily the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 and UK data protection legislation.  In certain circumstances this may therefore include personal data when required by law.

If you want the information that you provide to be treated as confidential, please be aware that, as a public authority, the Department is bound by the information access regimes and may therefore be obliged to disclose all or some of the information you provide. In view of this it would be helpful if you could explain to us why you regard the information you have provided as confidential. If we receive a request for disclosure of the information we will take full account of your explanation, but we cannot give an assurance that confidentiality can be maintained in all circumstances. An automatic confidentiality disclaimer generated by your IT system will not, of itself, be regarded as binding on the Department.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government will at all times process your personal data in accordance with UK data protection legislation and in the majority of circumstances this will mean that your personal data will not be disclosed to third parties. A full privacy notice is included below.

Individual responses will not be acknowledged unless specifically requested.

Your opinions are valuable to us. Thank you for taking the time to read this document and respond.

Are you satisfied that this consultation has followed the Consultation Principles?  If not or you have any other observations about how we can improve the process please contact us via the complaints procedure.

Personal data

The following is to explain your rights and give you the information you are entitled to under UK data protection legislation.

Note that this section only refers to personal data (your name, contact details and any other information that relates to you or another identified or identifiable individual personally) not the content otherwise of your response to the consultation.

1. The identity of the data controller and contact details of the Data Protection Officer

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is the data controller. The Data Protection Officer can be contacted at: dataprotection@communities.gov.uk or by writing to the following address:

Data Protection Officer,
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government,
Fry Building,
2 Marsham Street,
London,
SW1P 4DF

2. Why we are collecting your personal data

Your personal data is being collected as an essential part of the consultation process, so that we can contact you regarding your response and for statistical purposes. We may also use it to contact you about related matters.

We will collect your IP address if you complete a consultation online. We may use this to ensure that each person only completes a survey once. We will not use this data for any other purpose.

Respondents should refrain from sharing personal or special category data outside of the administrative questions at the front of the Citizen Space questionnaire.

Sensitive types of personal data

Please do not share special category personal data or criminal offence data if we have not asked for this unless absolutely necessary for the purposes of your consultation response. By ‘special category personal data’, we mean information about a living individual’s:

• race
• ethnic origin
• political opinions 
• religious or philosophical beliefs
• trade union membership
• genetics
• biometrics
• health (including disability-related information)
• sex life; or
• sexual orientation

By ‘criminal offence data’, we mean information relating to a living individual’s criminal convictions or offences or related security measures.

3. Our legal basis for processing your personal data

The collection of your personal data is lawful under article 6(1)(e) of the UK General Data Protection Regulation as it is necessary for the performance by MHCLG of a task in the public interest/in the exercise of official authority vested in the data controller. Section 8(d) of the Data Protection Act 2018 states that this will include processing of personal data that is necessary for the exercise of a function of the Crown, a Minister of the Crown or a government department i.e. in this case a consultation.

Where necessary for the purposes of this consultation, our lawful basis for the processing of any special category personal data or ‘criminal offence’ data (terms explained under ‘Sensitive Types of Data’) which you submit in response to this consultation is as follows. The relevant lawful basis for the processing of special category personal data is Article 9(2)(g) UK GDPR (‘substantial public interest’), and Schedule 1 paragraph 6 of the Data Protection Act 2018 (‘statutory etc and government purposes’). The relevant lawful basis in relation to personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences data is likewise provided by Schedule 1 paragraph 6 of the Data Protection Act 2018.

4. With whom we will be sharing your personal data

MHCLG may appoint a ‘data processor’, acting on behalf of the Department and under our instruction, to help analyse the responses to this consultation. Where we do, we will ensure that the processing of your personal data remains in strict accordance with the requirements of the data protection legislation.

Your responses may be processed by Artificial Intelligence to analyse the responses to the consultation more efficiently. These tools assist in identifying and mapping themes in consultation responses, but do not make decisions and all outputs are reviewed by staff for accuracy and reliability.

Where data is processed by Artificial intelligence, MHCLG will take reasonable and proportionate steps to remove personal data from the consultation responses before using an Artificial Intelligence, tool but this cannot be guaranteed. Respondents should refrain from sharing personal or special category data outside of the administrative questions at the front of the Citizen Space questionnaire.

The AI tool processes data securely and does not copy or share data. The data will only be accessed and used by those authorised to do so. Data used in AI tools is not used for training the AI model. MHCLG will take steps to check AI outputs for accuracy and identify and reduce bias.

5. For how long we will keep your personal data, or criteria used to determine the retention period.

Your personal data will be held for 2 years from the closure of the consultation, unless we identify that its continued retention is unnecessary before that point.

6. Your rights, e.g. access, rectification, restriction, objection.

The data we are collecting is your personal data, and you have considerable say over what happens to it. You have the right:

a) to see what data we have about you

b) to ask us to stop using your data, but keep it on record

c) to ask to have your data corrected if it is incorrect or incomplete

d) to object to our use of your personal data in certain circumstances

e) to lodge a complaint with the independent Information Commissioner (ICO) if you think we are not handling your data fairly or in accordance with the law.

You can contact the ICO at https://ico.org.uk/, or telephone 0303 123 1113.

Please contact us at the following address if you wish to exercise the rights listed above, except the right to lodge a complaint with the ICO: dataprotection@communities.gov.uk or at

Knowledge and Information Access Team,
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government,
Fry Building,
2 Marsham Street,
London,
SW1P 4DF

7. Your personal data will not be sent overseas

8. Your personal data will not be used for any automated decision making

9. Your personal data will be stored in a secure government IT system

We use a third-party system, Citizen Space, to collect consultation responses. In the first instance your personal data will be stored on their secure UK-based server. Your personal data will be transferred to our secure government IT system as soon as possible, and it will be stored there for 2 years before it is deleted.