Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the consultation entitled Proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework and other changes to the planning system, published on 30 July 2024, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of removing beauty as a requirement on support for new housing developments by local communities.

The Government is committed to building more high-quality, well-designed, and sustainable homes and places. There is a clear framework through policy and guidance on how to achieve well-designed places and the principles of good design are set out in the National Model Design Code, as referenced in the National Planning Policy Framework.

In our recent consultation on proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework, we were clear that well designed and beautiful development is important as part of the overarching objectives of the planning system and to achieve sustainable development.

However, we proposed to remove a few of the ‘beauty’ and ‘beautiful’ references in the Framework where they may result in inconsistency in how it is applied in decision-making, as many find the term subjective and difficult to define.