The current National Planning Policy Framework for England was published on 17 August 2026. It sets national policies for preparing plans and deciding development proposals. It does not grant permission for an individual project. Start with the official publication and PDF, then identify the policies and legal route relevant to your proposal.
This reference explains how to navigate the framework. For a comparison with its predecessor, read what changed in the August 2026 NPPF. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have different national planning systems.
Which document should you use?
The current PDF is titled National Planning Policy Framework: Plan-making and national decision-making policies, August 2026. GOV.UK says it replaces the December 2024 framework and the separate Planning Policy for Traveller Sites. Keep the publication date with any policy reference: a bare paragraph number from an older report may now point to a different subject.
The new document uses identifiers such as DM2, S4 and GB7, with numbered provisions beneath each. Its annexes are also national policy. Chapter objectives and the introductory explanation have a different role from the substantive policies. The distinction is explicit in introduction paragraphs 4–10 of the August 2026 PDF.
For a project file, record the version, policy identifier, subparagraph and relevant footnote. Link the actual provision rather than quoting a search result summarising it.
The development plan still matters
The legal starting point remains determination in accordance with the development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise. The framework's introduction expressly recognises this statutory rule; national decision-making policies are material considerations to read alongside the development plan. See section 38(6) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004.
A property's development plan can consist of several documents. Find the adopted local policies, policies map, relevant strategic plan and any made neighbourhood plan. A draft replacement plan, supplementary guidance and an adopted development-plan document should not all be labelled simply “the local plan”. Our local-plan directory separates these statuses where a profile is available.
Annex A paragraph 2 introduces an important weighting instruction: materially inconsistent local policies, or parts of them, should receive very limited weight, except where examined and adopted or made against this framework. It also says other policies should not lose weight just because they predate publication. That calls for an actual consistency assessment, not a blanket claim that every older local rule has disappeared.
Separate application policies from plan-making policies
The framework deliberately separates the two tasks. Introduction paragraph 8 says plan-making policies should not be used when deciding development proposals. A passage telling a council how to prepare its next plan is not automatically a test for a householder application.
| Your task | Starting point in the August 2026 framework |
|---|---|
| Preparing a planning application | Decision-making chapter DM1–DM10 and relevant thematic decision policies |
| Establishing the principle of development | S3–S6, with the appropriate location and other policy tests |
| Reviewing a council's emerging plan | PM policies and relevant thematic plan-making policies, subject to Annex A transitions |
| Understanding a site near a station | Relevant S, L and GB provisions, plus the glossary definitions |
| Checking an older policy citation | Original dated framework, current counterpart and applicable transition |
Read each relevant policy in full. A favourable sentence about housing does not resolve flood risk, heritage, access, infrastructure or other applicable considerations.
Location affects the principle of development
Policies S3–S5 organise the presumption around whether a proposal is inside or outside a settlement. S4 provides the starting approach within settlements. S5 identifies categories outside settlements and has specific provisions for Green Belt and Local Green Space. Where a site crosses a settlement boundary, S3 says to apply the respective policies to the relevant parts before reaching an overall view.
This makes the boundary evidence important. Save the applicable map and the basis for treating the site as inside or outside the settlement. Do not substitute a postcode, a built-up appearance on a satellite image or a property's marketing description for the framework's definitions and relevant plan evidence.
Hypothetical example: a garden redevelopment lies near the edge of a village. Before arguing that S4 supports development, establish the relevant settlement boundary and check how the proposal relates to it. Then assess the garden-development, design, amenity and access policies that actually apply. The presence of houses next door does not complete that exercise.
Which version applies to a local plan?
There is no single answer based only on today's date. Annex A distinguishes application decisions from preparation of plans:
- Current decision-making policies apply from publication.
- New-system local plans, minerals and waste plans and supplementary plans within Annex A paragraph 4 use the August 2026 framework.
- Spatial development strategies use the new framework.
- Neighbourhood plans submitted under Regulation 15 on or before publication generally retain December 2024 policy for preparation; the qualifying body can withdraw and update them.
- Other plans use December 2024 policy, subject to that edition's continuing transitional arrangements.
For a live examination, record the actual procedural regime, submission history and inspector's position. Our local-plan examinations guide explains why a hearing programme does not itself establish adoption or the applicable national-policy version.
Does the NPPF change permitted development?
A framework revision is not, by itself, an amendment to the General Permitted Development Order. Householder rights depend on the relevant legislative class, conditions, exclusions, property history and any withdrawal of rights. Start with our permitted development guide.
There is a particularly important version trap. SI 2026/313, articles 3 and 8 introduced a GPDO definition referring expressly to the December 2024 NPPF and updated specified references. The publication of the August framework does not rewrite that statutory wording. Where a prior-approval provision refers to the defined NPPF, identify the legal reference instead of automatically importing the newest PDF. Our PD changes register separates enacted amendments from proposals.
Turn a policy search into useful project evidence
A short policy schedule is more useful than copying entire chapters. For each issue, record the relevant local and national provisions, the project evidence addressing them, and any unresolved point. Attach measured drawings, photographs or a specialist assessment where they answer the actual issue. Check the council's validation requirements alongside DM1, DM2 and Annex C; a general national-policy summary is not a completed application checklist.
If the project may qualify as permitted development, establish that route before preparing a full planning-policy argument. A lawful development certificate concerns lawfulness, not whether a discretionary planning balance is favourable.
Sources and review
The August 2026 framework, its official predecessor and linked primary legal sources were compared on 8 September 2026 with AI assistance. Policy references above identify the provisions checked. This is a source-checked explanation; it has not received professional sign-off for an individual site. Recheck the official version and local evidence before relying on it for a submission.