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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of guidance issued to local planning authorities on the increase in housing delivery targets through revisions to the National Planning Policy Framework; and whether he has made an assessment of the effectiveness of that guidance in enabling authorities to meet statutory obligations.

The revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December 2024 includes a new Standard Method for assessing housing needs that is aligned to our Plan for Change milestone of building 1.5 million new safe and decent homes in England by the end of this Parliament

The standard method is used by local authorities to inform the preparation of their local plans. Once local housing need has been assessed, authorities should then make an assessment of the number of new homes that can be provided in their area. This should be justified by evidence on land availability, constraints on development, such as National Landscapes and areas at risk of flooding, and any other relevant matters. The approach taken is then be tested by the Planning Inspector during the examination of the Local Plan.

Alongside the publication of a new Standard method, my Department also published revised planning practice guidance to reflect these changes. This can be found on gov.uk here.

We will keep the need for additional planning practice guidance under review.