“All areas are required to play their part,” said Housing and Planning Minister Matthew Pennycook, confirming England’s new local plan system will switch on early in 2026. In a written statement on 27 November, he tied the move to the pledge to deliver 1.5 million homes this Parliament - a timetable with clear consequences for councils across the North.

For authorities from Carlisle to Calderdale and across the city regions, the reforms standardise how plans are prepared and examined: a 30‑month timetable, a three‑gateway check at scope, draft and readiness, and a digital‑first expectation to publish data in consistent formats. From Gateway 2 onwards the Planning Inspectorate will lead the process, with a new Procedure Guide and an examinations digital service promised during 2026 and extra inspectors recruited to meet demand.

Ministers have dropped the earlier idea of rolling the system out in waves. Once the underpinning regulations commence early in the new year, councils can begin in the new system straight away. Backstop dates are set: authorities covered by the NPPF transitional arrangements must publish their Gateway 1 self‑assessment by 31 October 2026, and areas with plans already over five years old must start by 30 April 2027.

Two systems will run side by side through 2026 so advanced plans can still proceed. Councils staying with the existing framework have until 31 December 2026 to submit for examination, with earlier 12 June 2026 deadlines applying to certain plans that met less than 80% of local housing need under the December 2024 NPPF update. If progress stalls, the government says it will consider intervening, including taking over plan‑making directly.

Another major shift is the end of the legal Duty to Cooperate. In a letter to the Planning Inspectorate, the minister confirms the Duty will cease when the regulations take effect early next year - including for plans already at examination - with inspectors instead relying on national policy requirements around “maintaining effective co‑operation”.

Support is being lined up. At least £14 million will be available this financial year to help local plan‑making, on top of £29 million already awarded to 188 authorities. Fresh guidance sits on the government’s Create or Update a Local Plan hub, with the Planning Advisory Service supplying templates and project tools to help teams get moving.

For Northern planning teams, the practical work starts now. Councils must give at least four months’ public notice before formal plan‑making, run an early scoping consultation, and self‑assess readiness to pass Gateway 1 - the point at which the 30‑month clock starts. Draft guidance also sets expectations to publish a plan timetable, gather baseline evidence and adopt standardised digital formats from the outset.

From Gateways 2 and 3 through to examination, the Inspectorate will oversee progress. For residents and local firms, this should mean more predictable consultation points and clearer routes to adoption. As Pennycook put it, “The plan‑led approach is, and must remain, the cornerstone of our planning system” - a reminder that up‑to‑date plans reduce piecemeal, speculative decisions.

Why this matters here in the North is straightforward: fewer than a third of planning authorities currently have an up‑to‑date plan. If your council won’t be submitting under the legacy rules by 31 December 2026, Whitehall’s advice is to start under the new regime as soon as it begins in 2026, publish your data to the national planning platform and be ready for scrutiny at each checkpoint.