UKGBC responds to National Planning Policy Framework consultation

The new Government has consulted on how to fix England’s broken planning system. The stakes…

The new Government has consulted on how to fix England’s broken planning system. The stakes are high. Get it right and we could see a new era of clean electricity, affordable homes where they’re needed, and large strategic areas to protect and restore nature. Get it wrong and we could see a nation up in arms, destroy what’s left of nature, and bust our legally binding carbon budgets.


The UK Green Building Council has responded based on expert input from across our membership and beyond.

We welcome this consultation and congratulate the Government for bringing it forward so quickly after so much delay. It provides a crucial opportunity to ensure all planning strategies and decisions contribute towards, not pull against, the Government’s ambitions and legal obligations to achieve a zero-carbon future, protect households, communities, businesses and the wider economy from climate impacts and restore nature.

In this context, the NPPF proposals including a new ‘Grey Belt’ designation and the reinstatement of a five-year housing land supply requirement will need to go much further to reflect the Government’s own stated urgency and commitment to decarbonise the economy, restore nature and deliver energy security and climate resilience. We hope our submission will help with that process.

In this response, our members have also agreed with Labour’s position in Opposition when it repeatedly voted to align England’s planning system with the Climate Change Act. And proposed that, alongside alignment with the Environment Acts these changes are introduced in the forthcoming Planning Bill. We have also urged the Government to adopt much stronger new building standards to put the country on track for success.

We look forward to a response and will continue to bring the expertise of our members to inform Government thinking and decision-making. 

Read the full response here

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