The written version
Where new homes can go under the 2026 framework
Where the land sits decides which rules apply. Those rules give a short list of ways in, and a few constraints can still mean refusal. Most parts below match something you can click in the model above.
Where the land is
The first question is where the land sits: inside a settlement, outside one, in the Green Belt or on protected green space. Each answer brings its own set of rules.
Where the land is · S3, Annex B
The settlement boundary
This line decides which set of rules applies. Inside it, new homes start from yes. Outside it, a scheme has to fit one of a short list of routes. Where the local plan draws no line, the edge follows the predominantly built-up area, and land already allocated or permitted for building counts as inside.
S3(1)(a) and (b): S4 within settlements, S5 outside; S3(2) judges a site across the line part by part. Annex B “Settlement” leaves out villages within the Green Belt.
Inside the settlement · S4
Inside the village
Inside a town or village there is no list of categories to get through. New homes should be approved unless the harm would substantially outweigh the benefits. The Framework names cases where that is likely, such as losing protected open space or engaging a policy that requires refusal, and says the list is open-ended.
S4(1) default approval; S4(2)(a)–(c) likely exceptions, which “include (but are not restricted to)” those listed. L3(2)(a): density should rise within settlements.
Outside the settlement · S5
Open countryside
Outside a settlement, the Framework lists the kinds of development that should be approved. Seven of the listed routes can deliver ordinary homes: reusing a building, land built on before, a gap in a group of houses, an exception site, a well-connected station, land allocated for housing and an evidenced unmet need. A site needs only one, and it can claim every route its facts support.
S5(1)(a)–(j); a listed scheme is approved unless the benefits are substantially outweighed. S5(4) covers anything off the list.
The isolation rule · S5(3)
An isolated home
A home standing on its own, away from any settlement or group of houses, cannot use the countryside list. It can only be approved under the separate policy for isolated homes, which allows five narrow circumstances. Land close to a few other houses is normally treated as part of a group, so this rule is for land that really is on its own.
S5(3): isolated homes, “those lying outside settlements or groups of houses”, are approved only in accordance with HO11.
Designation · HC2, HC8
Local Green Space
Local and neighbourhood plans can protect small green areas close to the community that are demonstrably special to it, for their beauty, history, recreation, tranquillity or wildlife. Development on them is decided as if the land were Green Belt, except that the grey belt and previously developed land routes do not apply. The model does not grade individual routes here, so the signpost stands bare.
HC2(1)(a)–(c); HC8(1); S5(5).
Ways in outside a settlement
Outside a town or village, the Framework lists the kinds of development that should be approved. A site needs to fit only one of them.
Route · S5(1)(c)
Reusing or replacing a building
A building already on the land can be reused, extended, altered or replaced. It has to be permanent, substantially built and lawful. An extension must not be disproportionate to the building as it stood when the Framework was published, and a replacement must be for the same use and not disproportionately larger.
S5(1)(c); footnote 25 fixes the baseline at 17 August 2026. The Green Belt version, GB7(1)(b), measures from 1 July 1948 (footnote 40).
Route · S5(1)(d)
Land built on before
Land lawfully developed with a permanent structure, or with large areas of fixed hardstanding, can be redeveloped, including conversion to homes. The definition leaves out four kinds of land that can look like brownfield: land last used by farm or forestry buildings; gardens, parks, recreation grounds and allotments in built-up areas; quarries, landfill and energy sites that must be restored; and sites where the remains have blended back into the landscape.
S5(1)(d); Annex B “Previously developed land” and its exclusions.
Land · S5(1)(c), S5(1)(d)
The farmstead
Farm buildings can look like brownfield, but land last used by agricultural buildings is excluded from previously developed land, so that route closes. A solid, lawful farm building can still be reused or replaced under its own route.
Annex B “Previously developed land”; S5(1)(c) and (d); GB7(1)(b) and (e) in the Green Belt.
Route · S5(1)(e)
A gap in a group of houses
Limited infilling within a group of houses is one of the listed routes. The Framework does not define “limited” or “group of houses”, and inspectors tend to read both narrowly, so the size of the gap and the houses around it are matters of judgement. Self-build plots on an infill frontage are a common use of this route.
S5(1)(e). Arguable at best in this model, because “limited” is a judgement. The Green Belt version, GB7(1)(c), applies only in villages.
Route · S5(1)(f), HO10
Exception sites
Land outside a settlement that is not allocated for housing can come forward for affordable homes meeting a local need, or for community-led housing. The site should adjoin or relate well to the settlement, stay within a size cap and deliver affordable homes, with market homes only where they are needed to pay for them. Schemes made under a Community Right to Build Order or a Neighbourhood Development Order use the same route.
HO10(1)(a): need evidenced by a survey or data under five years old. HO10(2)(b): no larger than 1 hectare or 5% of the settlement, whichever is greater.
Route · S5(1)(g)
Traveller sites
Sites for gypsies, travellers and travelling showpeople have their own route with its own tests. This model does not assess them, so the arm is always greyed out as not assessed.
S5(1)(g) and HO12. Out of scope by design (engine assumption a7).
Route · S5(1)(h)
Homes near a well-connected station
Homes within reasonable walking distance of a well-connected station are on the list, even on open fields. The land must relate well to the station or its town, local infrastructure must be able to cope, and the scheme must not get in the way of a larger plan for the area. This route has no unmet need test, and the same station sets a minimum density.
S5(1)(h)(i)–(iv); Annex B defines the station and the walk. The density floor is L3(2)(c), and falling below it means refusal under L3(4).
Route · S5(1)(i)
Land allocated for homes
Land that the development plan allocates for housing can be built on for that purpose. Allocated land at the edge of a town or village that will become part of the built-up area already counts as inside the settlement, so many edge allocations are judged under the default yes instead.
S5(1)(i) applies “where this lies outside settlements”. Annex B “Settlement” includes allocated or permitted land that will form part of the built-up area.
Route · S5(1)(j)
Meeting an unmet need
Where there is evidence that a need is going unmet, homes can come forward if they relate well to an existing settlement and local infrastructure can cope. The clearest evidence is a council that cannot show a five year supply of housing land, or that scored below 75% in the Housing Delivery Test. The wording allows other evidenced needs too, and for self-build plots this model counts a council behind on its self-build register as one of them.
S5(1)(j)(i): “including, but not limited to” those two measures.
No route fits · S5(4)
Exceptional circumstances
When none of the listed routes fits, permission needs exceptional circumstances. The benefits must substantially outweigh the harm, and that harm expressly includes damage to the character of the countryside and the extra car journeys a remote site creates.
S5(4). The model points here when every countryside arm is closed.
Route · HO11
Five cases for an isolated home
An isolated home should only be supported where at least one of five circumstances applies: a rural worker who needs to live on site; enabling development that secures a heritage asset; reuse of a redundant building that improves its setting; subdividing an existing house; or design of exceptional quality. The design case asks for architecture that is truly outstanding and would significantly enhance its setting.
HO11(1)(a)–(e); one is enough. HO11(1)(e) also asks the design to help raise standards in rural areas.
The Green Belt
Housing in the Green Belt can use seven categories. Several add tests the countryside routes do not have, such as openness and the Golden Rules.
Green Belt · GB6, GB7
The Green Belt
In the Green Belt, building counts as inappropriate unless it falls into one of a set list of categories. Inappropriate development needs very special circumstances: the harm to the Green Belt, which carries substantial weight, and any other harm must be clearly outweighed. A scheme that fits a listed category is treated as causing no Green Belt harm, and it should then be approved unless the benefits are substantially outweighed, as for a listed countryside route.
GB6(1) and (2); GB7(1)(a)–(h); S5(5). Housing can use GB7(1)(b), (c), (d), (e), (f)(ii), (g) and (h).
Green Belt · Annex B, GB2
Grey belt
Grey belt is Green Belt land, built on or not, that does not strongly contribute to three of the five Green Belt purposes: checking the sprawl of large built-up areas, stopping towns merging, and preserving the setting of historic towns. Keeping the countryside free from encroachment is left out of the test. The assessment guidance adds that villages do not count as large built-up areas.
Annex B “Grey belt”; GB2(1)(a), (b) and (d); Annex E paragraphs 3 to 5.
Green Belt · GB2, Annex E
The town
The town stands for the larger built-up areas the Green Belt was drawn around. Checking their sprawl and stopping towns merging are two of the purposes that decide whether Green Belt land is grey belt. The assessment guidance says villages do not count as large built-up areas.
GB2(1)(a) and (b); Annex E paragraphs 3 to 5.
Route · GB7(1)(b)
A building in the Green Belt
An existing building can be reused, extended, altered or replaced here too. The size test measures against the original building as it stood on 1 July 1948, or as first built if later, so later extensions do not raise the starting point. A replacement must be for the same use and not materially larger.
GB7(1)(b); footnote 40.
Route · GB7(1)(c)
A gap in a Green Belt village
Some villages lie within the Green Belt itself. They do not count as settlements, so the default yes does not apply, but limited infilling in such a village is one of the Green Belt categories. It carries no unmet need test, no grey belt assessment and no Golden Rules, which makes it the simplest Green Belt route where the facts fit.
GB7(1)(c). Annex B “Settlement” excludes villages within the Green Belt; a village inset from it is an ordinary settlement under S4.
Route · GB7(1)(d)
Affordable homes for local needs
A limited amount of affordable housing for local community needs is allowed in the Green Belt, for instance on a rural exception site. National or local plan policy sets how limited.
GB7(1)(d).
Route · GB7(1)(e)
Green Belt land built on before
Previously developed land in the Green Belt can be redeveloped, including conversion to homes. The result must not cause substantial harm to the openness of the Green Belt.
GB7(1)(e); Annex B “Previously developed land”. It does not apply on Local Green Space (HC8).
Route · GB7(1)(f)(ii)
A community order
Development brought forward under a Community Right to Build Order or a Neighbourhood Development Order can go ahead in the Green Belt. Its effect on openness must be kept to a minimum, and it must not seriously conflict with the Green Belt purposes.
GB7(1)(f)(ii).
Route · GB7(1)(g)
Building on grey belt
Grey belt land can take housing where four things are all true: the land is grey belt and building would not fundamentally undermine the rest of the Green Belt; there is an evidenced unmet need; the location is sustainable; and a major scheme meets the Golden Rules. For housing, a footnote limits unmet need here to a five year supply shortfall or a Housing Delivery Test result below 75%, which is narrower than in open countryside.
GB7(1)(g)(i)–(iv); footnote 41. No appeal has yet decided whether a self-build shortfall alone meets it, so the model shows that case as arguable.
Route · GB7(1)(h)
A station in the Green Belt
The station route works in the Green Belt as well. It asks the same questions as in the countryside, and a major scheme must also meet the Golden Rules. It has no unmet need test, which makes it open to self-build where the grey belt route is in doubt. The density floor still applies.
GB7(1)(h)(i)–(v); L3(2)(c) and L3(4).
Green Belt · GB8
The Golden Rules
Major housing schemes in the Green Belt, or on land released from it by a plan, must make three contributions: affordable housing, the infrastructure needed, and new or better green space open to the public. Until the local plan sets its own figure, the affordable share is 15 percentage points above the highest existing requirement, capped at 50%, or 50% where no requirement exists. Schemes below the major threshold are not caught.
GB8(1)(a)–(c); GB8(3) allows a viability case in three circumstances only. Footnote 43 exempts earlier plans and permissions.
Stations and density
A well-connected station opens its own route, and it also sets a minimum density for the homes around it.
Station · Annex B
A well-connected station
A station or tram stop is well-connected if it lies in one of England's top 80 travel to work areas by economic output and has at least four services an hour, or two an hour in one direction, through the weekday daytime. Planned upgrades or an agreement with the operator can count where there is a reasonable prospect of them. A service twice that frequent raises the minimum density near the station.
Annex B “Well-connected station”, ranked by Gross Value Added (footnote 72). L3(2)(c): 45 homes per hectare at double the minimum frequency.
Station · Annex B
The 800 metre walk
Reasonable walking distance is around 800 metres. Where hills, poor routes or barriers such as a main road or river would put people off, around ten minutes of actual walking is used instead. If only part of a site is within reach, the station route and the density floor apply to that part alone. The ring in the model is a simplification of a real walking route.
Annex B “Reasonable walking distance”, used by S5(1)(h), L3(2)(c) and GB7(1)(h).
Density · L3
The density floor
Within walking distance of a well-connected station, schemes must reach at least 35 homes per hectare, or 45 where the service is twice the minimum frequency. The figure is measured over the developed area, which includes roads, gardens and parking, so on a small site it is normally the whole site. A scheme below the floor should be refused unless it is below the major threshold and can show that meeting the standard would be inappropriate or not possible.
L3(2)(c) and (c)(i); L3(4) “should be refused”; Annex B “Net developable area”. Four homes on 0.3 hectares is about 13 per hectare.
Scale · Annex B
Major or minor
Housing is major development when it provides ten or more homes or the site is half a hectare or more. Crossing that line brings in the Golden Rules in the Green Belt and removes the small-scheme exception from the station density floor. Schemes below both figures are minor development.
Annex B “Major development”. In Protected Landscapes and Heritage Coast, footnotes 59 and 71 leave “major” to the decision-maker.
The council's position
Whether the council is keeping up with housing decides the unmet need routes.
Council position · Annex D
Five year supply and delivery
Every council should be able to show five years' worth of deliverable housing sites, plus a buffer of 5%, or 20% where delivery has fallen short. The Housing Delivery Test compares homes built with homes required over three years. A result below 75% means an unmet need is deemed to exist, which counts for the unmet need route in the countryside and for the narrower Green Belt definition.
Annex D paragraphs 8 and 9 (supply and buffers), 11 and 12 (delivery test thresholds). Footnote 41 names the same two measures.
Self-build · HO1, HO5, HO7
The self-build register
Councils keep a register of people who want to build their own homes, and under the Self-build and Custom Housebuilding Act 2015 they must grant enough permissions for serviced plots to meet the demand it records. The Framework asks plans to assess this need. This model treats a council behind on its register as evidence of unmet need for self-build plots: enough on its own outside the Green Belt, and an arguable case inside it.
HO1(2)(i); HO5(1)(c)(iii); HO7(1). The register duty comes from the 2015 Act; the Framework does not mention the register itself.
Constraints
Some constraints say refuse in their own words. Others count against a scheme in the planning balance.
Refuse or weigh · S4(2)(c)
A policy that says refuse
Some policies say in their own words that a scheme should be refused. Examples are homes in the functional floodplain, damage to ancient woodland, and a scheme below the station density floor, unless it is a small scheme that shows the standard would not work there. Inside a settlement, such a policy closes the single arm, because there the default yes and the planning balance are one test. Outside a settlement the arms stay as they are and the red sign stands beside them, so a route can be open while another policy still says refuse. Other constraints count against a scheme and are weighed against its benefits.
L3(4), F6(1)(a), N6(2), TR6(4) and HE6(5) say refuse; S4(2)(c) carries them into the default yes.
Constraint · F5, F6, F7
Flood zone
Houses are a “more vulnerable” use. In the functional floodplain, Flood Zone 3b, they should be refused; in Zone 3a they need the exception test, and in Zone 2 they pass the compatibility table. Anywhere at risk of flooding they usually also need the sequential test, and they must stay safe for their lifetime without raising flood risk elsewhere. The floodplain constraint in this model stands for the refusal case.
Annex F table 3; F6(1)(a) refusal where incompatible; F6(1)(b) exception test; F5 sequential test; F7(2).
Constraint · N6(2)
Ancient woodland
Ancient woodland has been wooded continuously since at least 1600 and is an irreplaceable habitat, as are ancient and veteran trees. Development that would destroy or damage it should be refused unless there are wholly exceptional reasons and a suitable compensation strategy. The Framework's example of such reasons is an infrastructure project whose public benefit clearly outweighs the loss.
N6(2); footnote 62; Annex B “Ancient woodland” and “Irreplaceable habitat”.
Heritage · HE4, HE5, HE6
Listed church
A listed building is a designated heritage asset, and building in its setting can harm it as well as work to the building itself. Any harm needs a clear and convincing justification and is weighed against the public benefits. Substantial harm should be refused unless it is needed to deliver substantial public benefits. In this model the Serious harm button stands for substantial harm. Until you record the benefits, the model marks it as a refusal unless a public benefit case is made. Choosing No real case under Benefits makes it a refusal.
HE4(2); HE5(2) and (3) grade the effect on significance; HE6(3) to (6), with HE6(5) for substantial harm.
Heritage · HE9
Conservation area
A conservation area is a designated heritage asset, so harm to it is weighed in the same way as harm to a listed building. Proposals should keep the buildings and features that contribute to the area and draw on its special interest in their design.
Annex B “Designated heritage asset”; HE9(1) to (3); HE6(4).
Constraint · N6(1), N2
Local wildlife site
A local wildlife site, local geological site or Local Nature Reserve should only be supported where there would be no significant harm to its integrity, or the benefits clearly outweigh the impact. A Site of Special Scientific Interest faces a stricter version of the test, and an internationally protected habitats site needs a formal assessment to clear it. Significant harm to biodiversity that cannot be avoided, mitigated or compensated means refusal.
N6(1)(a)–(c); N2(2). The model treats (b) and (c) as a higher bar, and (a), N6(2) and N2(2) as requiring refusal.
About this model
The lab runs on the same engine as the policy test, so the same answers give the same routes.
How to read it · S4, S5, GB7, HO11
The signpost
Each arm is a route through the 2026 framework for new homes on this site, with the strongest at the top. Green arms are open, amber arms are arguable, slate arms need answers and dark, drooping arms are closed. A faded arm is a route this model does not assess. The plate on top names the set of rules in play, and the statuses come from the same engine as the policy test.
S4 inside a settlement, S5 outside, GB7 in the Green Belt, HO11 for isolated homes, HC8 on Local Green Space.
Your site · Annex B
Your site
The orange line is the site boundary, and the homes on it follow the numbers you set. Near a well-connected station the outline turns green when the scheme reaches the density floor and red when it falls short. It turns amber when the answer rests on the small-scheme exception or, where only part of the site is in reach, on the density of that part. Ten or more homes, or half a hectare or more, makes the scheme major.
The model divides homes by site area (L3(2)(c), Annex B “Net developable area”). Major development: 10 homes or 0.5 ha (Annex B).
About this model
What the model can and cannot tell you
Many of these tests turn on words the Framework never defines, such as “physically well-related”, “limited infilling” and “group of houses”. This model shows how the policy fits together. It has not looked at a real site, local plan or planning history, and it is not planning advice. If a refusal goes to a written appeal, the appeal is decided on the application as submitted, so the application has to make the whole case from the start.
Assessed against the NPPF published 17 August 2026; engine 1.1.0, interpretation revision 2026-08-18.