UK Planning Policy
- Gareth Price
- Feb 15
- 2 min read
Do we have a planning policy problem in the UK? We carried out research to determine the number planning documents and pages and the findings were striking: 44,840x Documents and 1,366,196x Pages. This figure may not be exhaustive as it can often be difficult to locate all documents demonstrating the excessive complexity of the system.
The hierarchy structure of the policy:
National: Documents 97x / Pages: 5347x (England, Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland)
Regional: Documents 49x / Pages: 3221x (London)
Local: Documents 44,694x / Pages: 1,357,628x (382 Local Authorities)
This enormous volume of policy requires continuous review and updating, costing millions of pounds in public money. The vast majority of policy sits at the local level, where many councils duplicate policies or rely on generic wording that adds little value. Architects and developers frequently experience this as unnecessary complexity rather than meaningful local distinction.
As of late 2025, fewer than one-third of local planning authorities (LPAs) in England operate under an up-to-date local plan (less than five years old). Around 70% do not, and approximately 10% have no current plan at all. (1). This highlights how difficult it has become for local authorities to keep pace with the scale of legislation.
How can we reduce policy volume and cost while maintaining scrutiny?
A stronger national planning framework is needed. More UK-wide national policy documents should be adopted and consistently applied across all four nations, collaboratively written and agreed to reflect best practice, raise standards and continuously reviewed by industry experts.
A nationally led Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA) could provide a clearer understanding of population growth, housing need, and where development should be directed—particularly towards sustainable brownfield sites or politically where the government may wish to encourage movement of population to areas where there is decline in the number people or empty homes.
Key policy areas such as house extensions, design quality, sustainability and flood risk should sit primarily at the national level removing all regional planning policy. This would create greater consistency across the country and allow local planning departments to focus less on policy interpretation and more on engaging with architects, developers and communities to improve design outcomes.
The Local plan should be the only document they produce and be plan/design-led, not driven by layers of generic policy with limited impact. Planning departments need to be agile and collaborative, supporting better decision-making and stronger place-making.
Policy documents should also be shorter, clearer, in a standard format and time-limited, with a five-year lifespan before renewal, allowing them to adapt to changing national and local conditions and be implemented within a year from drafting and consultation period with the public. Having a shorter lifespan they would allow the public to have more continuous involvement rather than the current rate of every 15-20 years leading to little public engagement and faith in their local plan. This approach would save money which could be spent on free pre-application meetings bringing a consistent approach across the UK without losing scrutiny.
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