Death of the Nimby? Who decides planning applications in England changes next week - here's what you need to know

It's received little attention, but this month new rules about how councils in England decide planning applications come into force. 

The changes mean a planning application attracting, let's say, 1,000 complaints for a development of nine new houses on a site where a single house used to be, will be decided by a single planning officer rather than facing heavier scrutiny via a planning committee, which typically holds meetings open to the public. 

By bringing in the new rules, the Government can keep as many planning applications away from planning committees as possible.   

Concerns are mounting that the new rules will mean contentious planning applications will face far less scrutiny, paving the way for inappropriate developments or extensions. 

More disputes between neighbours could also ensue. 

One local authority councillor told This is Money the new rules 'reduce democratic oversight' in the planning system. 

An expert in planning applications said the new rules went 'too far'. 

This is Money examines what is changing and why and how homeowners and councils will be affected.

What is changing?

From October 31, 2026, every council in England will have to follow one set of national rules about who decides planning applications. 

The new rules are in the Town and Country Planning (Discharge of Local Planning Authority Functions) (England) Regulations 2026.

The new rules set out which types of planning applications go to planning officers and which go to planning committees. 

The changes were initially meant to come into force from the end of September 2026. 

But this was pushed back to October 2026 after concerns were raised by local authorities about not having enough time to make the administrative changes required. 

What is a planning committee?

There are two main ways in which planning applications are decided. 

One is a delegated decision made by a planning officer. The other is a planning committee decision made by local councillors. 

Planning committees usually comprise several councillors who represent different political parties and wards.

Currently, when a certain number of objections or petitions are received about a planning application, or when a ward councillor raises an interest in the case, the planning application will be referred to a planning committee to make a decision on. 

At committee meetings, the applicant or their representative and members of the public, who might disapprove of the application, can air their views on the planning application. 

After this, the planning committee will make its final decision about the application, deciding whether to give it the green light or refuse it. 

What is happening to planning committees?

Locally set rules on which planning applications should be referred to a planning committee will be scrapped from October 31, 2026. 

The size of planning committees will also be capped at 13 people. 

The new rules mean far fewer planning applications will end up being decided by a planning committee. 

Most applications will be decided by individual planning officers.

So, applications for things like an extension, loft conversion or alteration to an existing home can only go to a planning officer after October 31 and there will not be a route for these cases to go to a planning committee. 

Even new housing developments of nine properties will just go to a single planning officer in future. 

Paul Brailsford, a partner at Freeths, told This is Money that applications on sites where 'outline planning permission' had already been granted for up to 500 new homes will also be pursued solely by a single planning officer after October 31.  

Planning officers will deal with all homeowner developments and minor commercial and smaller development schemes. 

Currently, the majority of planning applications are already only decided by a planning officer, as most of these are small changes being made by people to their own homes.  

After October 31, larger planning applications could still end up being decided by a planning committee, but only if the chief planning officer at the council and planning committee chair both agree that the application raises a major issue. 

It will be harder to get an application pushed through to a planning committee, even where a listed building is the subject of the application. 

Under the new rules, an application might be referred to a planning committee if it meets one of the following two criteria: the application 'raises an economic, social or environmental issue of significance to the local area'; or the application 'raises a significant planning matter having regard to the development plan and any other material considerations'. 

What will happen if an application attracts many objections?

A large number of objections to proposed works or a development will no longer mean a planning application is automatically referred to be decided by a planning committee. 

Brailsford said: 'Currently, councils automatically refer applications to a planning committee based on the number of local objections and in some cases the threshold can be as low as five letters of objection.' 

So, from October 31 if a developer submitted plans for nine new houses where a single old house used to be and 1,000 people objected to the proposals, the application will still only be decided by a single planning officer under the new rules. 

Owen Hoare, owner of Objection Experts, said: 'Councillors will no longer be able to "call in" applications to committee, and applications can no longer go to committee level based on the strength of local objections alone. 

'Even if a smaller application has 500 objections, it will not go in front of councillors at a public meeting, and local residents won't get their say once an officer has made their recommendations.' 

Hoare told This is Money he believed the new rules 'go too far'.  

Will less scrutiny and more neighbour disputes ensue? 

Some people are concerned the rules will render objections from the public about planning application largely meaningless, while others think they will remove a layer of scrutiny that is essential, particularly for controversial planning applications. 

Councillor Jeremy Pert, of Stafford Borough Council, told This is Money: 'The use of planning committees has been a longstanding principle, which has worked well.

'The use of a planning committee is not usually the cause of significant delays within the planning system.

'Often the use of planning committees allows planning applications to be reviewed and improved by looking at an application through a variety of different lenses, rather than just the planning officer's terms of reference.'

He added: 'However, for contentious applications, local communities want to ensure that their voices and concerns are actively discussed, especially if they are going to have to live with those developments on a daily basis. 

'Reducing the democratic oversight won't make development more acceptable to those communities and the notionally barriers that planning committees are perceived to create are perceived to create are massively outweighed by the benefits.' 

To the Government, certain planning applications may seem minor. But to households they can be lifechanging, and not always in a good way. 

Hoare said: 'For most people, their experience with the planning system are those smaller applications - a two-storey extension that blocks light, an outbuilding at the bottom of a garden, or a new house squeezed into a neighbour's back garden; these impact peoples homes far more directly than major developments. 

'These applications will not never reach a committee, however harmful they are and however many people object. 

'They will be decided by an officer, with no public meeting, chance to speak to councillors and no elected councillors able to step in.

'Larger schemes can also go to committee, but only in exceptional cases; many large and controversial developments that would previously have been debated in public will now be decided by officers alone.' 

He added: 'Officers do not always get it right. Planning officers are professionals, but are not infallible. 

'I have seen many cases, especially for householder development such as extensions, where officers have recommended approval, but the planning committee disagreed, and refused the application.

'Householder applications are defined as minor, but are not minor to the family whose garden would be overshadowed, or whose privacy would be lost. 

'These decisions would now go entirely through under delegated powers, with no democratic checks by the planning committee, even where councillors and local residents raise concerns.' 

Why does Labour want the new rules?

Labour said the changes will speed up the time it takes for simple applications to be decided. The Government has said it wants to make planning decisions more consistent across the country.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: 'Local say from communities and counsillors continues to be critical in how new homes and infrastructure are built.

'Our plans will modernise planning committees to improve efficiency over decisions so that planning applicants have the clarity they need, and we can deliver quicker for local people.'