-in-action.jpg "Building homes on brownfield land: the new NPPF paragraph 125(c) in action")
Planning policies and decisions should […] give substantial weight to the value of using suitable brownfield land within settlements for homes and other identified needs, proposals for which should be approved unless substantial harm would be caused…
Revisions to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), announced in December 2024, strengthened the presumption in favour of sustainable development on brownfield sites through amendments to paragraph 125(c) and increased housing targets for many local authorities. We have recently seen the effects the new policy is having in local decision making.
For those still getting to grips with these NPPF revisions, paragraph 125(c) now states:
Paragraph 125(c) in action
This strengthened approach towards developing brownfield land was a matter that Mid Sussex District Council’s planning committee needed to consider directly when it resolved to grant planning permission for 16 new homes on a brownfield site in Haywards Heath last month. The council has also seen its housing land supply fall below the required five-year supply.
The committee had previously resolved to refuse planning permission, against the recommendation of officers, at the planning committee meeting held on 5 December 2024 due to impact on neighbouring amenity.
So what led to the turnaround in fortunes of this application?
Raising the bar from significant to substantial harm
A week after the committee meeting, while the precise wording of the reason for refusal was being agreed by officers and the chairman, the new NPPF was published. Officers agreed that for the decision to be legally sound, the application must be reported back to the planning committee for a decision to be made under the new planning policy framework.
When the application was reported back in February, officers advised members that when resolving to refuse permission in December, they had assessed the scheme against the development plan test of whether it would cause significant harm to neighbouring amenity. Now, the NPPF had raised that bar to substantial harm, a threshold that members ultimately concluded had not been reached.
The development will now revitalise a vacant brownfield site within an urban area and deliver 16 new homes, including four on-site Affordable Homes and a commuted sum towards the delivery of a fifth off-site.
This decision represents a clear example of the positive impacts the new NPPF is already having on local decision making and the delivery of new homes towards that 1.5 million target. It will also alert those that have previously been refused permission on a brownfield site to review the decision in the context of NPPF paragraph 125(c).
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