Agent of Change
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he will provide guidance to developers on the role of the agent of change principle in pre-application engagement.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook
The agent of change policy is given effect through the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which makes clear that where the operation of an existing business or community facility could have a significant adverse effect on new development in its vicinity, the applicant (or ‘agent of change’) should be required to provide suitable mitigation before the development has been completed.
The government is currently consulting on a new NPPF that includes clearer, ‘rules based’ policies for decision-making and plan-making. The consultation includes a proposed update to the agent of change policy which sets out in more detail the types of matters which should be considered. These include early engagement with existing uses to identify potential impacts; the use of planning conditions to secure agreed mitigation measures; and the need to consider both current and permitted levels of activity to reduce the risk of conflict.
The consultation can be found on gov.uk here and will remain open for responses until 10 March 2026.
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