Glossary
The NPPF and how London councils apply national policy
Government's high-level planning policy. Sets the framework local plans must respect.
Government's high-level planning policy. Sets the framework local plans must respect.
The NPPF sets out the government's planning policies for England and how they should be applied. It is not statute, but it is a material consideration in every planning decision, and its presumption in favour of sustainable development shapes how local plan policies are weighed.
Applications are determined in accordance with the development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise, and the NPPF is the most significant material consideration. Where local plan policies are out of date or inconsistent with the Framework, their weight is reduced.
For householder work the Framework rarely decides the case on its own. Its chapters on achieving well-designed places and on conserving the historic environment are the ones officers cite in extension reports.
Chapter 12 on design, which expects development to be sympathetic to local character while not preventing appropriate innovation; and Chapter 16 on the historic environment, which sets the substantial and less-than-substantial harm test and requires significance to be described proportionately.
Chapter 16 is also the source of the requirement that harm to a designated heritage asset needs clear and convincing justification — the sentence most often quoted in a refusal on a conservation area extension.
Frequently. Inspectors work directly from the Framework, and appeals succeed where an officer applied a local guidance figure — a 3 m depth limit, say — as though it were a rule rather than as guidance to be weighed against the Framework's design and context tests.
How national planning policy framework (nppf) plays out in Lewisham: London Borough of Lewisham (Lewisham Council) maintains 30 conservation areas, the Blackheath Conservation Area and the Deptford High Street Conservation Area among them, and there is no borough-wide Article 4 direction, so permitted development generally survives outside conservation areas. Anyone dealing with national planning policy framework (nppf) at a Lewisham address is therefore working to a £548 householder application decided in 8 weeks, or a £249 prior approval over 6 weeks where national planning policy framework (nppf) still qualifies.
| Status | Government policy, a material consideration |
|---|---|
| Design chapter | Chapter 12 |
| Historic environment chapter | Chapter 16 |
| Harm test | Substantial / less than substantial, with public benefits |
| Presumption | In favour of sustainable development |
| Applies to | England |
No. It is policy, but it must be taken into account in every decision.
It sits above it. Guidance inconsistent with the Framework carries less weight.
Yes, and doing so precisely is more effective than citing it generally.
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