Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, further to the revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 16 December 2025, what assessment has been made of the potential effect of the proposed changes on the number and size of residential gardens in suburban neighbourhoods.

The government is currently consulting on a new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) that includes clearer, ‘rules based’ policies for decision-making and plan-making.

The consultation includes policies that will support development within residential curtilages, including gardens. The relevant policies make clear that new development within residential curtilages should not occupy more than twice the footprint of the existing building on the site and should retain at least half of the non-developed area within the building’s curtilage. These policies would safeguard residential gardens from being lost and prevent inappropriate development which would be out of scale with the existing dwelling(s) taking place, while also allowing gentle increases in density in suitable locations.

Individual development decisions would be made by landowners/homeowners.

The consultation will remain open for responses until 10 March 2026 and can be found on gov.uk here.