How the grey belt rules changed
The December 2024 Framework created grey belt. The August 2026 Framework kept the core test but changed what counts, how it is assessed and how schemes can come forward. Here is the detail.
Timeline
Consultation on NPPF reforms
The new government proposes "grey belt", defined loosely as previously developed land and other land making a limited contribution to Green Belt purposes.
December 2024 NPPF
Grey belt defined in Annex 2 against purposes (a), (b) and (d) of paragraph 143, excluding land where footnote 7 policies give a strong reason to refuse. Decision route at paragraph 155; Golden Rules at paragraphs 156–157.
Green Belt Planning Practice Guidance
Sets the strong / moderate / weak-or-none approach and confirms that villages are not "large built-up areas" or "towns".
First wave of appeals
Inspectors allow schemes at Bagshot, Walton-on-Thames, Burcot and elsewhere; others fail where footnote 7 heritage harm excludes the land (Boscobel Lane, Toot Hill).
Draft NPPF published for consultation
Proposes coded policies, removing footnote 7 from the grey belt definition, and moving the assessment method into a new Annex E.
Wrotham Parish Council v SSHCLG [2026] EWHC 165 (Admin)
The High Court (Lieven J) upholds an inspector who tested footnote 7 against the development proposed, not against hypothetical development of the land.
August 2026 NPPF
Chapter 13 becomes policies GB1–GB8, with the grey belt definition in Annex B and the assessment method in Annex E. Material to decisions from publication.
First appeals under GB7
At least 13 grey belt decisions under the new policies within seven weeks. See the list.
The definition, then and now
December 2024 (Annex 2)
Grey belt was land in the Green Belt comprising previously developed land and/or any other land that, in either case, does not strongly contribute to any of purposes (a), (b) or (d) in paragraph 143. It excluded land where the policies relating to the areas or assets in footnote 7 (other than Green Belt) would provide a strong reason for refusing or restricting development.
August 2026 (Annex B)
Grey belt is land in the Green Belt comprising previously developed land and/or any other land that does not strongly contribute to any of purposes (a), (b) or (d) in policy GB2. The footnote 7 exclusion has gone.
Note "in either case": previously developed land is not automatically grey belt. It must also not strongly contribute to purposes A, B or D, although in practice developed land usually contributes less.
The big change: footnote 7
Under the 2024 wording, deciding whether land was grey belt meant first asking whether a protected asset nearby, such as a listed building, an archaeological priority area or a flood zone, gave a "strong reason" to refuse. That mixed up two questions, and led to arguments about whether the test applied to the land in general or to the particular scheme. In Wrotham the High Court held it applied to the development proposed.
The 2026 Framework separates the two questions. Classification (is it grey belt?) depends only on purposes A, B and D. Acceptability (should it be built on?) still applies heritage, landscape, flood risk and other policies in the usual way.
Real effect: Sutton's assessment
Sutton's June 2026 Green Belt review found 8 parcels that did not strongly contribute to purposes A, B or D. Under the 2024 definition, only 4 were grey belt and 4 were "potential" grey belt because of an archaeological priority area or listed buildings. Under the new definition, all 8 would be grey belt. More council assessments →
December 2024 vs August 2026.
Rows marked changed are where the August 2026 Framework alters the position.
| Topic | December 2024 NPPF | August 2026 NPPF |
|---|---|---|
| Where the policy sits | Chapter 13, paragraphs 142–160; definition in Annex 2 glossary | Chapter 13, policies GB1–GB8; definition in Annex B; method in Annex Echanged |
| Core test | Does not strongly contribute to purposes (a), (b) or (d) of para 143 | Same test, against purposes (a), (b) or (d) of GB2 |
| Footnote 7 assets | Land excluded if footnote 7 policies give a strong reason to refuse or restrict (judged against the proposal: Wrotham) | No longer part of the definition. Heritage, flood, landscape and similar policies apply separatelychanged |
| How land is assessed | Planning Practice Guidance (Feb 2025): strong / moderate / weak or none | Annex E of the NPPF: stage 1a assessment areas, 1b grey belt against A, B, D, 1c "fundamentally undermine" test. Plans must be informed by it (GB2(3))changed |
| Decision route | Para 155: (a) not fundamentally undermine purposes of remaining Green Belt; (b) demonstrable unmet need; (c) sustainable location (paras 110, 115); (d) Golden Rules | GB7(1)(g): same four tests; sustainable location "with particular reference to policy TR3"changed |
| Unmet need (housing) | No five-year housing land supply, or Housing Delivery Test below 75% | Same (footnote 41). For traveller sites, no five-year supply of pitches |
| Station-led development | No separate route | GB7(1)(h): homes or mixed use within reasonable walking distance (about 800 m) of a well-connected station, with no grey belt or unmet-need testnew |
| Golden Rules | Paras 156–157: affordable housing 15 points above the highest local requirement (capped at 50%); infrastructure; accessible green space | GB8: same core rules, plus viability evidence only in three cases (previously developed land with abnormal costs, strategic sites, a wholly different type of development)changed |
| Release order in plans | Para 148: previously developed land, then grey belt, then other Green Belt | GB4(1)(d)(i): same order. Neighbourhood plans can alter boundaries in limited cases |
| Infrastructure exception | Local transport infrastructure | Transport, electricity, water and telecoms infrastructure (GB7(1)(f))changed |
| Applies to | Decisions until 16 Aug 2026; legacy plans under transitional rules | All decisions from 17 Aug 2026, including applications made earlier and appeals in progress |
Summary in our words. Always check the policy text on GOV.UK before relying on it.
GB7(1)(g): the four grey belt tests
Development on grey belt is "not inappropriate" only if all four tests are met. Fail one and the scheme is inappropriate development, needing very special circumstances.
Uses grey belt and does not fundamentally undermine the Green Belt
Development must not fundamentally undermine the purposes, taken together, of the remaining Green Belt across the plan area. Small and medium sites rarely fail this test.
Evidenced unmet need
For housing: no five-year supply (including any buffer) or a Housing Delivery Test result below 75%. A replacement house adds no home, so it cannot show need (Neston, Oct 2026).
Sustainable location (TR3)
The most common reason grey belt schemes fail. Unlit lanes without footways and infrequent buses have sunk schemes at Copthorne Bank and even beside Hatton station.
Golden Rules for major housing
Ten or more homes, or 0.5 ha or more: affordable housing, infrastructure and green space under GB8.
GB7(1)(h): the new station route
Residential or mixed-use development is also "not inappropriate" if it is within reasonable walking distance of a well-connected station (normally about 800 metres), is physically well related to the station or its settlement, is of a scale infrastructure can handle, does not prejudice long-term comprehensive development, and (for major development) meets the Golden Rules.
A well-connected station is a railway station, or underground, tram or light rail stop, in one of England's top 80 Travel to Work Areas, with at least four services an hour (or two an hour in one direction) through a normal weekday daytime, or a reasonable prospect of that.
The land does not have to be grey belt, and no unmet need has to be shown. In plan-making, councils do not need to show exceptional circumstances to release land around such stations (GB3(4)).
GB8: the Golden Rules
Compliance with the Golden Rules carries substantial weight in favour. The rules do not apply to traveller sites, or to land released by plans adopted, or permissions granted, before 12 December 2024.
Plan-making
Every Local Plan must now be informed by a Green Belt assessment, prepared using Annex E, that identifies grey belt (GB2(3)). Boundaries can only change through plans, in fully evidenced exceptional circumstances (GB3), which include being unable to meet development needs after using brownfield land and optimising density. When land is released, previously developed land comes first, then other grey belt, then other Green Belt (GB4).
Which rules apply to my site?
Planning applications and appeals: the August 2026 policies have been a material consideration since 17 August 2026, including for applications submitted earlier and appeals already under way. Inspectors have either invited comments or decided that the changes made no material difference to the parties' cases.
Local Plans: plans prepared under the new plan-making system use the 2026 Framework. Some plans already well advanced continue under the December 2024 Framework under its transitional provisions. Neighbourhood plans submitted on or before publication continue under the December 2024 Framework.
Own land in the Green Belt?
Find out whether it could be grey belt, which route to permission might apply, and what the Golden Rules would ask of a scheme.