Planning statements: what they are and what the August 2026 NPPF expects

 

A planning statement explains why a proposed development should be granted planning permission. It brings together the site and proposal, the relevant development plan, the current National Planning Policy Framework, other material considerations and the applicant’s case.

For many years planning statements were commonly submitted with larger or more complicated applications without being a universal national requirement. The August 2026 NPPF has made them much more important. Policy DM1 now says that proposals for major development should be accompanied by a concise planning statement addressing policy compliance, pre-application engagement and proposed planning obligations.

That does not mean every application needs a long policy essay. This guide explains when a planning statement is expected, when a council can require one for validation, how it differs from a Design and Access Statement, and how to write one that helps rather than buries the planning case.

 

What is a planning statement?

 

A planning statement is the applicant’s explanation of the planning merits of a proposal. It should identify the development proposed, the policies that matter, the main planning issues and why the decision-maker should grant permission.

It is not simply a list of policy numbers. A useful statement explains how the proposal fits the development plan and current national decision-making policies, where there is any conflict, and what other material considerations affect the planning balance.

For a straightforward proposal the document may be short. For a complex major scheme it will naturally cover more ground. The key word in the August 2026 NPPF is concise: the statement should make the planning case easier to understand, not hide it inside pages of copied policy.

 

DM1: the August 2026 change for major development

 

Policy DM1 – Preparing development proposals changes the national expectation for major applications. It says proposals for major development should be informed by proportionate early engagement and should be accompanied by a concise planning statement setting out:

1. how the proposal is consistent with relevant development plan and national decision-making policies;
2. the outcome of pre-application engagement and the extent to which the proposal changed in response; and
3. the proposed use of any planning obligations needed to make the proposal acceptable in planning terms.

This makes the planning statement much more than a generic supporting document. For major development it is now the natural place to join together the policy case, engagement history and proposed section 106 planning obligations.

 

What counts as major development?

 

For ordinary district-level planning applications in England, major development includes:

• housing: 10 or more homes, or a residential site of 0.5 hectares or more where the number of homes is not known;
• non-residential development: 1,000 square metres or more of additional floorspace, or development on a site of 1 hectare or more;
• mineral working; and
• waste development.

The August 2026 NPPF also introduces the term medium development for housing schemes of 10 to 49 homes on sites of no more than 2.5 hectares. Medium development is a subset of major housing development, so a 20-home medium scheme is still major for DM1 and should still have the concise planning statement.

 

Is a planning statement a national validation requirement?

 

Not automatically. This distinction matters.

Government guidance on the statutory national information requirements currently lists plans and drawings, ownership information and the Agricultural Land Declaration, a Design and Access Statement for specified applications, and a Fire Statement for specified applications, together with additional requirements for matters such as outline applications and Environmental Impact Assessment.

A planning statement is not currently listed there as a freestanding statutory national validation document. DM1 is a national planning policy expectation for major development. That is powerful, but it is not the same legal mechanism as the national validation requirements in the Development Management Procedure Order.

A council can also have local information requirements. For a missing locally required planning statement to affect validity, the requirement needs to satisfy the rules explained in our validation requirements guide, including the current local-list and statutory tests. The August 2026 NPPF’s DM2 also requires information demands to be proportionate.

So if a council says “your application is invalid because there is no planning statement”, ask two separate questions: does DM1 expect one? and does the council have a lawful validation basis for refusing to register the application without it?

 

Planning Statement and Design & Access Statement are not the same thing

 

They can overlap, but they do different jobs.

• A Planning Statement is primarily about the planning case: development plan policy, national policy, material considerations, engagement and planning obligations
• A Design and Access Statement explains the design thinking behind the proposal and how access has been considered. It is a specific statutory requirement for certain applications

Many major applications will therefore have both. There is no need to duplicate pages of material between them. Cross-reference intelligently: let the Design and Access Statement explain the design process, and let the Planning Statement explain why the resulting scheme is acceptable in planning terms.

The same principle applies to transport assessments, Heritage Impact Assessments (often called heritage statements), flood-risk assessments, ecology reports and other technical documents. The Planning Statement should summarise the planning consequence of the evidence rather than reproduce every technical report.

 

A sensible structure for a planning statement

 

There is no statutory national template, but the following structure works well for many applications.

1. Executive summary

State what is proposed, identify the main planning issues and explain in a few paragraphs why permission should be granted. A planning officer should be able to understand the core case without reading 40 pages first.

2. Site and planning history

Describe the site and surroundings accurately. Include only planning history that is genuinely relevant to the current proposal. If an earlier permission, refusal, appeal or lawful use materially affects the case, explain why.

3. The proposal

Explain the development clearly: use, amount, scale and anything essential to understanding what permission is sought. Make sure the description matches the application form and drawings.

4. Development plan and national policy

Start with the statutory development plan. Identify the genuinely relevant local policies and explain the proposal’s relationship with them. Then deal with the August 2026 NPPF and its relevant national decision-making policies.

Do not assume an old local policy can simply be ignored because of its age. The August 2026 Annex A test is about material inconsistency with current national decision-making policy. Equally, do not treat the NPPF as though it has displaced the statutory section 38(6) starting point.

5. Main planning considerations

Organise this around the actual issues in the case: principle of development, design, amenity, highways, heritage, flood risk, ecology, housing, economic effects, Green Belt or whatever is genuinely engaged. Link each conclusion back to the evidence and relevant policy.

6. Pre-application and community engagement

For major development, DM1 expects the statement to record the outcome of early engagement and explain how the proposal changed in response. Do not just list meetings. Explain the issue raised, the response and, where no change was made, why.

7. Planning obligations

Where section 106 obligations may be required, identify what is proposed and why. That might include affordable housing, infrastructure, mitigation or other matters which satisfy the legal and policy tests. Do not confuse a Community Infrastructure Levy liability with a planning obligation: CIL is a separate charging regime.

8. Planning balance and conclusion

Finish the argument. State whether the proposal accords with the development plan read as a whole, identify any conflict honestly, explain the material considerations and set out why permission should be granted.

 

How to deal with policy properly

 

A poor planning statement quotes ten policies and then announces that the scheme complies with all of them. A useful one explains the relationship between the proposal and the policy tests.

Use the local plan, any relevant neighbourhood plan or Supplementary Plan, the statutory policies map and the current NPPF. If an emerging plan matters, explain the weight it should receive under current policy rather than describing a draft policy as though it were already adopted.

If the proposal departs from one policy, say so. Planning decisions are not a box-ticking exercise and development plan policies are read as a whole. Hiding an obvious conflict weakens the statement; identifying it and explaining why other policy or material considerations justify permission is usually stronger.

 

Pre-application engagement: record the outcome, not just the diary

 

DM1 places particular emphasis on early engagement for major development. The level of engagement should be proportionate to the scheme and the people likely to be affected.

If you obtained pre-application advice, summarise the substantive issues and show what changed. The same applies to discussions with statutory consultees, neighbours, local communities and other relevant bodies.

A simple table can work well: issue raised → applicant response → change made. Where the design did not change, explain why the original approach remains justified.

 

Do smaller applications need a planning statement?

 

DM1’s express concise-statement requirement is directed at major development. That does not make planning statements useless for smaller proposals.

A short statement can be particularly valuable where:

• the proposal does not obviously accord with a development plan policy;
• the principle of a use or development needs explaining;
• there is a significant planning history;
• a permitted-development, fallback or lawful-use position affects the planning balance;
• the site is in Green Belt, a conservation area or another policy-sensitive location;
• the application turns on a specific national or local policy test; or
• there is a realistic prospect that the decision may later need to be defended at appeal

For a simple householder proposal with no unusual policy issue, a full planning statement may add little. Proportionality matters in both directions.

 

Make the application appeal-ready

 

A well-written planning statement creates a clear application-stage record of the planning case. That is useful even if permission is granted, and particularly useful if the authority later refuses the application.

Write it so a reader who has never met the project can understand the site, the proposal, the key evidence, the development plan position and the reasons permission is sought. Cite drawings and technical reports accurately. If a policy test requires evidence, make sure the evidence is actually submitted rather than merely asserted.

Do not save the best argument for a future appeal. The planning application should contain the strongest properly evidenced case from the outset.

 

Common planning-statement mistakes

 

• Copying whole policies: quote only the words needed to explain the test and link to the source where useful
• Ignoring inconvenient policy: identify genuine conflict and address it
• Using an obsolete NPPF: decisions now use the August 2026 Framework, subject to the relevant implementation rules
• Confusing plan-making and decision-making policy: the August 2026 NPPF expressly separates them
• Treating the Design and Access Statement as the Planning Statement: cross-reference, but do not assume one automatically does the other’s job
• Repeating technical reports: summarise their planning conclusions and let the specialist evidence sit in its own document
• Writing 70 pages because the application is major: DM1 says concise. Complexity may require detail, but length is not a substitute for a clear planning case
• Generic conclusions: “the proposal is sustainable” or “there is no harm” means little without the policy and evidence explaining why

 

Planning Statement checklist

 

• Does the description of development match the application form and drawings?
• Have you identified the complete development plan rather than just the local plan?
• Have you used the current August 2026 NPPF for the decision-making case?
• Have you dealt with the relevant policies rather than every policy you can find?
• For major development, have you covered all three DM1 statement elements?
• Have you explained pre-application changes rather than just listing consultations?
• Have you identified any proposed section 106 obligations?
• Have you linked the planning conclusions to the submitted evidence?
• Have you addressed genuine policy conflict openly?
• Could a planning officer or Inspector understand the main case quickly?

 

Where to go next

 

Before submitting, check our guide to planning application validation requirements and find the authority’s local validation list. If the proposal requires a separate design explanation, see Design and Access Statements.

For the policy framework behind the statement, continue to the development plan explained, the August 2026 NPPF and material considerations.

 

Relevant legislation, policy and guidance

 

• National Planning Policy Framework, August 2026 – particularly DM1, DM2 and Annex C;
• Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015, article 2 – including the definition of major development;
• Development Management Procedure Order 2015, article 7 – applications for planning permission;
• Town and Country Planning Act 1990, section 62 – applications and local information requirements;
• Planning Practice Guidance: Making an application – national and local validation requirements;
• Planning Practice Guidance: Before submitting an application – pre-application engagement

Other Planning Application Sections

 

Planning Statement Page Updated: 21st August 2026