The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government release the updated National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) on the 12th of December 2024, aiming to address housing delivery challenges, strengthen environmental protections, and adapt planning policies to emerging priorities. This was released alongside a new standard method that calculates Local Housing Need (LHN). Key changes include housing targets and local planning, affordable housing and community-led development, sustainability and energy efficiency, and environmental considerations.
Mandatory Housing Targets
Mandatory housing targets have been reintroduced, aiming for 1.5 million new homes during this parliament. The standard method for calculating housing needs remains and requires local authorities to use this method as the basis for determining housing requirements in their local plans. The new standard method to calculate LHN contains changes to the Affordability Uplift in terms of time period, baseline and degree of uplift resulting in decreasing the affordability in the most affordable areas and increasing the affordability uplift in less affordable areas.
The table below shows the effect of the new standard method on some LPAs:
Impact of new standard method to calculate LHN by LPA
| LPA | LHN under previous method | LHN under new method | Net additional dwellings | Increase from previous method |
| Cornwall | 2,707 | 4,421 | 1,714 | 63% |
| Plymouth | 897 | 1,290 | 393 | 44% |
| South Hams | 325 | 910 | 585 | 180% |
| West Devon | 268 | 443 | 175 | 65% |
| Torbay | 599 | 940 | 341 | 57% |
| Teignbridge | 717 | 1,090 | 373 | 52% |
| Torridge | 220 | 526 | 306 | 139% |
| Exeter | 642 | 800 | 158 | 25% |
| East Devon | 893 | 1,188 | 295 | 33% |
| Mid Devon | 346 | 572 | 226 | 65% |
| North Devon | 281 | 803 | 522 | 186% |
| Somerset | 2,669 | 3,769 | 1,100 | 41% |
| Bath and North East Somerset | 717 | 1,471 | 754 | 105% |
| Bristol | 3,378 | 2,986 | -392 | -12% |
| North Somerset | 1,324 | 1,593 | 269 | 20% |
| South Gloucestershire | 1,317 | 1,702 | 385 | 29% |
| Gloucester | 663 | 685 | 22 | 3% |
| Cheltenham | 545 | 824 | 279 | 51% |
| Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | 2,164 | 2,958 | 794 | 37% |
| Dorset | 1,557 | 3,219 | 1,662 | 107% |
Source: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government – Indicative local housing needs (December 2024 – new standard method)
Five-year land supply requirement
Five-year land supply requirements are to be applied immediately. This does, however, exclude areas where a Local Plan is in a progress. Where there is an area where a five-year land supply is not present, the ‘tilted-balance’ will apply so that there is a presumption in favour of sustainable development. There is also a new requirement for authorities with plans adopted under the old standard method to provide an extra year’s worth of homes in their five-year housing pipeline.
These changes reflect a broader push to balance housing delivery with environmental, social, and infrastructure needs, while giving local authorities more flexibility to adapt to the changes.
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