Impact of the new NPPF on Hertfordshire – our initial view

The government has published a new National Planning Policy Framework, or NPPF, that takes effect immediately. This is the eighth significant change to national planning policy in the past fourteen years. Here we take an initial view on its impact for Hertfordshire.

On 17 August 2026 the government published its new National Planning Policy Framework, or NPPF. This is the foundation of national planning policy and has a massive impact on how land is used in England, be it for nature, housing, employment, recreation, energy generation, infrastructure, minerals (i.e. gravel) quarrying, waste processing, and many other uses.

Good news on brownfield

We are pleased by the new NPPF’s stronger presumption in favour of brownfield development in urban areas, but we also want to see government put mechanisms in place to ensure this is actually delivered. With local authorities in England having already identified enough brownfield land for 1.4 million new homes, of which around 770,000 already have planning permission, this must surely be the government’s first and most urgent priority.

Unfortunately, the new NPPF has a number of policies of great concern for all of us who care about the Green Belt and the wider countryside. Here are a few of the most concerning provisions.

Central government control, not devolution

The government promised greater devolution. Now, the new NPPF codifies and reinforces various central government levers of control.

These include impossibly high, mandatory housing targets that bear no relationship to population demographics or trends but are simply an arithmetic calculation. If local planning authorities are unable to meet these impossible targets, the government can intervene in the Local Plan process as it has recently done in Three Rivers District, and there could also be a barrage of speculative planning applications for inappropriate development in the wrong locations. Also imposed is a mandatory national scheme of delegation that takes more planning decisions out of the hands of elected local councillors.

Stronger presumption in favour of development

The new NPPF effectively increases the presumption in favour of development to a much wider set of circumstances. This pertains to land within and outside of existing settlements, whether land is protected or not. Broadly speaking there is a corresponding diminution of protections and policy constraints to development.

Default ‘yes’ to development around train stations

The new NPPF provides for a default ‘yes’ decision to residential-led development of at least 35 dwellings per hectare, if the site is within 800 metres of well-connected train stations that are located in the top 80 “travel to work areas” in England. This includes all of Hertfordshire. ‘Well-connected’ means at least two trains in each direction per hour during weekdays, or a reasonable prospect of achieving this frequency. The default ‘yes’ applies even if the land is in the Green Belt.

In theory, this is meant to provide residential development that is near facilities and services and is not car dependent. But this one-size-fits-all approach completely ignores realities on the ground. Hertfordshire has many rural and semi-rural train stations that have at least two trains per hour in each direction, but do not have facilities and services nearby, and where any residents would be totally car dependent for all of their everyday needs apart from commuting in to London for work.

The default ‘yes’ to development in these locations is very broad. There is no requirement to demonstrate ‘unmet need’ or the lack of a five year housing land supply. We fear an imminent developer free-for-all on Green Belt land and the wider countryside near virtually all of our non-urban train stations in Hertfordshire.

Expansion of the definition of ‘grey belt’

Although the majority of responses to the government’s consultation on this new NPPF were opposed to any expansion of ‘grey belt’, the government has not listened. Instead, the new NPPF further weakens Green Belt protections by removing the old Footnote 7 which identified areas where grey belt should not apply, such as Sites of Special Scientific Interest, habitats sites, designated heritage assets and others. The new NPPF omits any reference to the old Footnote 7, thus weakening the protections offered to nationally significant areas of environmental importance. With over half of Hertfordshire designated as Green Belt, the ongoing weakening of protections and expansion of grey belt poses an existential threat to our Green Belt.

Removal of protection for Valued Landscapes

We also decry the removal of protection for landscapes that are valued locally but lack national designation such as Rural Area Beyond the Green Belt. The removal in the new NPPF of the consideration of “valued landscapes” and the increased emphasis on development risks under-valuing landscape character, beauty and tranquillity. This has potentially severe damaging consequences for the wider countryside in our county.

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