National Planning Policy Framework, Chapter 1: Introduction
This is the introduction to the National Planning Policy Framework.
Applies to England
This is the introduction to the National Planning Policy Framework.
1. The National Planning Policy Framework sets out the government’s policies for plan-making and for making decisions on development proposals in England. It is a material consideration of critical importance in both contexts. This version replaces the previous National Planning Policy Framework published in December 2024.
2. The planning system should be genuinely plan-led. Preparing and maintaining up-to-date development plans should be seen as a priority for providing housing and other development in a sustainable manner. The plan-making policies in the Framework must be taken into account in preparing any part of the development plan.
3. Planning law requires that applications for planning permission be determined in accordance with the development plan, unless material considerations indicate otherwise[footnote 1]. The national decision-making policies in this Framework are a material consideration in making these decisions and should be read alongside the policies in the development plan. Planning decisions must also reflect relevant international obligations and statutory requirements, as must the preparation of development plans[footnote 2].
4. This chapter explains the role of the Framework, practical points on its structure and use, and an overview of the purpose of the planning system. The chapter does not contain substantive policy; the policies to be used for plan-making and decision-making are set out in the chapters that follow.
Using the Framework
5. Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 set out general procedural policies for plan-making and decision-making. The subsequent chapters contain policies on thematic issues, separated in each case into policies for plan-making and those for decision-making. Taken together, the policies for decision-making (both procedural and thematic) comprise a set of national decision-making policies.
6. The plan-making policies should be read as a whole (including relevant footnotes and annexes), and applied in a way that is appropriate to the type of plan being produced, the area that it covers and the period it is intended to cover. Reflecting this, some of the plan-making policies indicate actions that should be taken at the most appropriate level, which recognises that plan-making arrangements will vary across the country (for example in the geographic scale of spatial development strategies and local plans). Where policies relate to matters that are primarily local in scale, and/or are concerned with detailed implementation, they will not generally apply to spatial development strategies. The relevant legislation does not allow spatial development strategies to allocate specific sites or designate specific areas of land.
7. The national decision-making policies should also be read as a whole (including relevant footnotes and annexes). Some of these policies indicate how much weight the government would expect a particular consideration to be given, including cases where it is appropriate to give substantial weight to certain benefits, and the limited circumstances in which it is expected that permission would be refused.
8. The thematic chapters contain both plan-making policies and national decision-making policies so that the approach to particular topics can be seen in the round. However, the plan-making policies should not be used when making decisions on development proposals.
9. The annexes included with this Framework are also national planning policy.
10. Short objectives are included in boxed text at the start of chapters for context only and should not be applied as either plan-making or decision-making policy.
11. Where policies in this Framework set out lists in the form of sub-paragraphs, all of those sub-paragraphs apply unless the text indicates otherwise (such as through the use of ‘or’ at the end of one or more sub-paragraphs).
Other policy and guidance
12. There are other national policy statements which must be considered, where relevant, when preparing plans or making decisions on development proposals. These include the government’s National Planning Policy for Waste and relevant written ministerial statements. Details of written ministerial statements and other planning policy documents which have been incorporated into the Framework, or which no longer represent up-to-date government policy, are included at Annex A.
13. The Framework does not contain specific policies for nationally significant infrastructure projects. These are determined in accordance with the Planning Act 2008 (as amended) and relevant national policy statements for major infrastructure, as well as any other matters that are relevant (which may include this Framework). National policy statements may, where relevant, be a material consideration in preparing plans and making decisions on planning applications.
14. National planning policy is supported by a suite of planning practice guidance, the purpose of which is to support the implementation of national planning policy. The government intends this to play an important but supporting role to national planning policy and its status should be regarded in that light.
Purpose of the planning system
15. The purpose of the planning system is to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development, by managing the use and development of land in the long-term public interest.
16. At a very high level, the objective of sustainable development can be summarised as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs[footnote 3]. At a similarly high level, members of the United Nations – including the United Kingdom – have agreed to pursue the 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development in the period to 2030. These address social progress, economic well-being and environmental protection[footnote 4].
17. Achieving sustainable development means that the planning system has three overarching objectives in providing for the homes, commercial development, facilities and infrastructure which society needs. These objectives are interdependent and need to be pursued in mutually supportive ways (so that opportunities can be taken to secure net gains across all three):
a. An economic objective – to help build a strong, responsive and competitive economy, by ensuring that sufficient land of the right types is available in the right places and at the right time to support growth, innovation and improved productivity; and by identifying and coordinating the provision of infrastructure;
b. A social objective – to support strong, vibrant and healthy communities, by ensuring that a sufficient number and range of homes can be provided to meet the needs of present and future generations; and by fostering well-designed, beautiful and safe places, with accessible community facilities, public service infrastructure and open spaces that reflect current and future needs and support communities’ health, social and cultural well-being; and
c. An environmental objective – to support efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change, including moving to a low carbon economy; and to protect and enhance our natural, built and historic environment, including making effective use of land, improving biodiversity, using natural resources prudently, and minimising waste and pollution.
18. These objectives should be delivered through the preparation and implementation of development plans and the application of the policies in this Framework; they are not criteria against which every development proposal can or should be judged. Development plans and decisions should play an active role in guiding development towards sustainable solutions, but in doing so should take local circumstances into account, to reflect the character, needs and opportunities of each area.
This is Chapter 1 of the National Planning Policy Framework
Continue to Chapter 2: Plan-making policies (PM1–17).
Return to the National Planning Policy Framework homepage.
Footnotes
1. Section 38(6) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 and section 70(2) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. ↩
2. The National Planning Policy Framework does not displace the statutory obligations placed on decision-makers by virtue of, among other things, section 38(6) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, sections 66 and 72 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, section 85(A1) of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 and section 11(1A) of the National Parks Act 1949. ↩
3. Resolution 42/187 of the United Nations General Assembly. ↩
4. Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. ↩