Designing Buildings (DB) has issued an update on the ‘New Plan Making System’
DB writes:
The new plan-making system is a reformed framework launched by the UK government in November 2025, designed to accelerate, simplify, and digitalise the creation of local plans across England. It is underpinned by the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023 as a system aiming to address the slow pace of current planning by introducing a mandatory 30-month timeline for the preparation and adoption of local plans, as well as abolishing the phrase the ‘duty to cooperate’. In terms of its implementation there will be a dual-running period to allow the legacy system to be used for plans submitted by December 31, 2026, while the new system is adopted.
On 6 March, 2026 the government published its Guidance on the rollout of the new local plan-making system, and New plan-making system: regulations and content roadmap as well as the blog piece New draft guidance published to support faster and clearer local plan-making published on 8 March, 2026. A package of regulations to was laid before Parliament in early March, 2026, the first being the new Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2026 with a commencement date of 25 March, replacing the existing 2012 plan-making regulations. Below is. a list of all those regulations moving forwards:
- The Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2026
- The Requirement to Assist with certain plan making (Prescribed Public Bodies) (England) Regulations 2026
- The Town and Country Planning (Costs of Independent Examinations for Local Planning Etc.) (Standard Daily Amount) (England) Regulations 2026
- The Levelling-Up and Regeneration Act 2023 (Commencement No. 11 and Saving and Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2026
- The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 (Local Planning) (Modification and consequential amendments) (England) Regulations 2026
Duty to Cooperate
The government argues that the duty to cooperate, a duty which requires local planning authorities and certain public bodies to collaborate on strategic issues that cross administrative boundaries, such as housing needs, infrastructure provision, and environmental planning, often delayed or prevented the adoption of local plans. This was based on the fact that inspectors frequently found plans unsound where evidence of cross?boundary cooperation was insufficient. The removal of this duty, which was Introduced by the Localism Act 2011, and established through Section 33A of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 (which will now be repealed) is intended to simplify and speed up the local plan?making process.
The listed regulations also set out transitional arrangements between the current planning framework under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 and the new system introduced by the Levelling?up and Regeneration Act (LURA) 2023. Existing development plan documents adopted before 25 March 2026 will remain part of the development plan until replaced by new local plans. Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs) will continue to apply during the transition, although no new SPDs can be adopted after 30 June 2026. Additionally, 31 December 2026 is the final date for submitting development plan documents for examination under the current system, unless the Secretary of State permits a later deadline.
Spatial Development Strategies
Whilst duty to cooperate is removed the government aims to strengthen cross?boundary planning through the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025, which introduces Spatial Development Strategies (SDSs) as a new mechanism for strategic planning across wider areas. Intended to replace the former duty, SDSs aim to be a more structured system that coordinates how housing needs, infrastructure, employment land, environmental considerations and other strategic priorities are re distributed between local authorities within a region. This setting out of development requirements at a broader geographic level, aims to improve alignment between neighbouring authorities and ensure strategic issues are addressed more effectively. The duty to prepare an SDS is expected to commence in summer 2026, and many areas are already beginning preparations for the new system.
Meanwhile the NPPF updates from December 2024 strengthen the section on ‘maintaining effective cooperation’, which has been carried forward in the draft updated NPPF, as part of the transition to the new system. Councils must still prepare local plans based on local housing needs, assessed using the standard method, whilst expectation is that they also consider whether unmet housing needs from neighbouring authorities can also be met, forming an element of the soundness test at examination. By removing the statutory duty to cooperate, this cooperation requirement now sits in planning policy rather than in legislation which provides greater flexibility, to address any shortcomings during the local plan examination. So inspectors may recommend modifications, such as the identification of additional sites, to resolve deficiencies, allowing plans that might previously have been found unsound to proceed to adoption.
The non statutory consultation on the proposed geographies (12 February 2026) over which new spatial development strategies (SDSs) should be prepared identifies three broad types of geography:
1. Existing or imminent mayoral devolution areas (from April 2026), which are proposed as the primary footprints for SDSs;
2. Areas where there is already broad agreement on strategic working that reflects the ‘sensible geography’ principles set out in the English Devolution White Paper (December 2024)
3. Remaining parts of the country, where there is no existing arrangement, for which the government is inviting proposals for SDS footprints that also meet those sensible geography criteria.
The consultation, which runs until 26 March 2026, is intended to confirm where SDSs should be prepared and to allow prospective strategic planning authorities to shape how the new system of strategic planning will operate.
Other considerations
Regulations for the expansion of the expedited written representations appeal procedure, extend the expedited procedure to most section 78(1) planning appeals against local authority decisions, but exclude non-determination, listed building consent and discontinuation notice appeals, and prevent any new information or representations being submitted at appeal.
Annual planning fees indexation:; All planning fees will be increased from 1 April 2026 by 3.8%, in line with the Consumer Prices Index for September 2025. All local planning authorities are requested to update their online information regarding planning fees to reflect these upcoming increases, to ensure that applicants are informed about the new fees that will be effective from 1 April 2026
Reforms of the compulsory purchase process and compensation rules via the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 (PIA) brought into force, reforms of the compulsory purchase process and compensation rules.
New power for Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPOs) to be conditionally confirmed via Section 183 of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 (LURA). The PIA and LURA reforms coming into force supported by the statutory instruments below, with compulsory purchase guidance due to be updated in the spring and amn MHCLG register of CPO decisions.
- The Compulsory Purchase of Land (Prescribed Forms) (Ministers) (Amendment) Regulations 2026
- The Compulsory Purchase of Land (Prescribed Forms) (Ministers) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2026
- The Compulsory Purchase of Land (Vesting Declarations) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2026
How AI can be used to summarise consultation responses is being explored by MHCLG to help local planning authorities consult faster and support greater citizen engagement. Supporting developers to comply with tree felling regulations and avoid costly delays: Local authorities should remind applicants to check if a felling licence is needed before trees are removed, as unlawful felling can trigger Restocking Notices, long appeals and serious delays to development. The main planning exemption only applies once full permission (or, in limited cases, relevant reserved matters) is granted, so premature felling before permission or without a clear exemption is high risk and must be avoided.
Adapting Historic Buildings for Energy and Carbon Efficiency has been updated by Historic England to support more consistent decision-making on energy and carbon improvements to historic buildings while safeguarding their significance. The 2026 revision makes targeted clarifications on how to apply relevant legislation and policy, emphasises the positive role of tools such as conservation area management plans in framing and supporting local energy-efficiency policies, and refines technical guidance on interventions like insulation. An online landing page signposts six climate change adaptation case studies illustrating how historic buildings can be sensitively upgraded for energy performance and carbon reduction.
