The Welsh planning code is moving into its next phase of consolidation after the Welsh Government laid a new programme for improving access to Welsh law before the Senedd on 21st October 2026. It includes further work to bring subordinate planning legislation into the framework established by the Planning (Wales) Act 2026.
The announcement matters to planning applicants, consultants and local planning authorities throughout Wales, but it does not itself bring new regulations into force. The programme sets out work to be undertaken, rather than granting new permitted development rights or changing how a current planning application must be determined today.
For anyone working across England and Wales, I would pay particular attention to this distinction. A more coherent Welsh planning statute book should make the law easier to navigate, but its practical effects will depend on individual commencement provisions, restated regulations and updated guidance as each is introduced.
What the Welsh planning code programme commits to
The new 2026 to 2030 programme is the Welsh Government’s second under the Legislation (Wales) Act 2019. It covers several branches of Welsh law, including agriculture, wildlife management and tribunals, but its planning commitment is particularly relevant to landowners, developers and advisers.
The programme identifies the continuing development of the Welsh planning code as a task of maintaining a code already established in primary legislation. The Planning (Wales) Act 2026 consolidated a substantial body of planning law for Wales, drawing together provisions that previously had to be traced through numerous UK and Welsh Acts.
The next job is to deal with the supporting secondary legislation. Rules governing practical planning processes are often found in statutory instruments, and a primary Act alone cannot deliver the intended simplification unless those instruments are also made consistent and accessible. The government’s stated aim is to restate existing subordinate planning legislation in a modernised structure.
This is not a promise that every statutory instrument will be rewritten immediately, nor evidence that an existing planning requirement has ceased to apply. The Planning (Wales) Act 2026 must be read alongside the relevant commencement arrangements and the regulations actually in force at the date of a decision.
The two phases of planning legislation reform
The Welsh Government says its implementation programme, published on 7 August 2026, envisages two phases of work. The first is anticipated to run up to October 2027. It begins the restatement of existing planning subordinate legislation, concentrating on a relatively small number of instruments most frequently used by practitioners and those requiring significant updating following the 2026 Act.
There is a practical reason to prioritise frequently used legislation. If the instruments relied upon daily in development management are clarified first, advisers and authorities can work from more consistent terminology while the wider consolidation proceeds. However, the published programme does not say that every planning regulation will have been restated by October 2027.
The second phase is longer term. It will continue the restatement of remaining secondary legislation and incorporate amendments to the wider suite of planning policy and guidance documents. That is where the ongoing work on the Welsh planning code could become more visible in routine advice, application procedures and local authority practice.
The date is therefore a planned implementation milestone, not a universal commencement date. A published programme may establish a direction of travel without itself giving legal effect to a new planning procedure. A consultant advising on a live case should still identify the exact statutory provisions applying on that particular day.
Why consolidation is not the same as policy reform
Consolidation ordinarily brings existing legislation into a more coherent form rather than automatically creating a new planning policy. The Welsh Government’s broader programme also includes correcting errors, resolving ambiguities and improving access to accurate versions of legislation. Some individual instruments may require substantive updates, but those must be distinguished from changes that restate the existing law.
That distinction matters for certificates of lawfulness, enforcement, appeal rights and permitted development. A new numbering structure may require different statutory citations, while a substantive regulatory amendment may require a genuinely different legal assessment. The two should not be confused.
For a Welsh planning code that is easier to use in practice, readers will need dependable cross-references, transition guidance and accessible bilingual texts. The government says it will continue working with The National Archives on the presentation of Welsh law through legislation.gov.uk and will explore ways of publishing the codes themselves through gov.wales.
The programme also emphasises authoritative Welsh legal terminology and bilingual glossaries. This is significant in planning because the same procedural and technical concepts must be understood consistently in Welsh and English, whether an authority is preparing guidance or a practitioner is advising on an application.
What Welsh planning practitioners should watch
The immediate task is to keep using the legislation and guidance currently operative in Wales, while watching for individual replacement instruments and commencement orders. Advisers should check whether a provision has been brought into force, whether savings or transitional rules apply, and whether current planning policy has actually been amended rather than merely earmarked for review.
Local planning authorities will also need to consider the knock-on effect of updated legislative references in decision notices, validation material, application guidance and committee reports. Outdated citations can cause confusion even when the underlying legal test has stayed substantially the same.
For the Welsh planning code, I would focus on the instruments that affect everyday development management first, then assess the second phase as revised national planning policy and guidance emerge. A consolidated statute book should eventually reduce time spent tracing amended provisions across separate Acts, but it will not replace the need to check the current version.
It is equally important not to import assumptions from England. The 2026 Act and this programme are part of the law-making arrangements for Wales. English permitted development legislation, procedures and policy may have different wording or legal effects even where the subject matter appears similar.
Original documents and next steps
In his written statement of 21st October 2026, Counsel General for Wales Elfyn Llwyd confirmed that the second programme had been laid before the Senedd in accordance with section 2 of the Legislation (Wales) Act 2019. The full programme for 2026 to 2030 provides the operative detail of the government’s intentions.
The relevant primary legislation is the Planning (Wales) Act 2026, which describes itself as forming part of a code of Welsh planning law. The official Law Wales overview explains its consolidation purpose.
The Welsh planning code is therefore a developing legal framework, not a single regulatory switch. The next meaningful news will be the publication and commencement of particular planning instruments, alongside any associated transitional provisions and updates to Welsh planning guidance.
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