The Government has now published the new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) for England, replacing the December 2024 version.
As ever, there’s plenty of planning policy to digest, but there are a few changes which particularly caught our eye from a farming and rural business perspective.
A clearer steer for farm development
Perhaps the most useful change is the wording around rural business development.
The new NPPF specifically supports development which maintains and enhances farm viability, sustainability and domestic food production. It goes as far as expressly naming improved livestock accommodation, on-farm reservoirs, greenhouses, polytunnels, farm shops and temporary seasonal worker accommodation.
That’s quite a list – and a welcome recognition that productive farming businesses need infrastructure in order to adapt and invest.
Water storage gets a specific mention
The inclusion of on-farm reservoirs is particularly interesting.
Following another exceptionally dry spring and summer, water security is becoming an increasingly important consideration for many farming businesses.
We’ve seen this first-hand through our own work this year, with increasing interest in abstraction licences, reservoir planning and how farms can build greater resilience into their water supplies.
Seeing on-farm reservoirs specifically recognised within national planning policy as infrastructure which can support farm viability and domestic food production feels like a significant and sensible step in the right direction.
Rural diversification continues to be supported
The new framework also continues support for the development and diversification of agricultural and other land-based businesses, including the conversion of existing buildings and appropriately designed new buildings.
Importantly, it recognises the reality that rural businesses may need to be located outside settlements and in places which aren’t particularly well served by public transport.
That might sound obvious to anyone living or working in the countryside, but having that recognition within national policy is useful when bringing forward rural business and diversification proposals.
And finally… farm succession and new dwellings
Another useful provision has been carried forward for farming families considering succession.
The policy on isolated homes in the countryside specifically recognises that there may be an essential need for a rural worker to live at or near their place of work, including someone taking majority control of a farm business.
That doesn’t remove the need to demonstrate an essential rural worker need, but it remains an important route to consider where a farm is passing to the next generation and an additional dwelling is genuinely required.
A positive direction for rural development?
Overall, there are some encouraging messages in the new NPPF.
Planning applications will always turn on their individual circumstances, and national policy is only one part of the picture. But the explicit recognition of farm viability, domestic food production, water storage and the practical needs of rural businesses is welcome.
For farmers and landowners considering investment in their business, there may now be a stronger national policy basis for bringing those plans forward.
If you’re considering a new agricultural building, reservoir, diversification project or rural worker’s dwelling and want to understand how the new policies might apply, get in touch with the Hollingstone team.