The new Labour Government’s National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) proposes to drop the requirement for local planning authorities to produce authority-wide design codes. But can design codes still be a powerful tool to deliver housing at scale and within planetary boundaries?

Local authority-wide design codes first entered the stage in summer 2022, when they became mandatory as part of the Levelling Up Bill.

Design codes are a set of simple, concise, illustrated design requirements for the physical development of places. The idea is that, by moving community engagement and strategic design upstream in the development process, design codes should improve design quality, speed up planning, and increase community agency.

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