How has the development industry responded to the new NPPF, and what does this reveal about the potential to increase housing delivery? With further reform and local government reorganisation on the horizon, the planning system faces a test of its resilience and effectiveness.

Are there signs that the long-term decline in planning activity is finally reversing?

Our 12th annual planning research report cuts through the uncertainty to assess what the data tells us about the system's capacity for change, the emerging patterns of recovery, and the challenges that will shape housing delivery in the years ahead.

Key Takeaways

• Despite high levels of activity ‘on the ground’, changes to planning policy will take time to be reflected in Local Plans and the number of consents flowing through the system.

• Clear signals are already being sent through the appeals process, as planning inspectors embrace the revised NPPF. Combined with further reform, this has the potential to offer an unprecedented opportunity for acquiring and progressing sites over the next few years.

• England faces the biggest shake-up of local government since the 1970s, as the Government intends to replace the current system of local government with a set of fewer, larger principal authorities and higher ’combined’ authorities.

Read each section below.

To read more of our research, please visit our Housing, Development and Research hub

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