Beyond the Warehouse: Is the New NPPF Finally Making Space for Open Storage?

The August 2026 National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) strengthens the approach to planning for economic growth. Policy E1 requires development plans to identify and allocate suitable commercial sites to meet identified needs, with particular regard to the requirements of a modern economy and the specific locational needs of sectors including technology, data, freight and logistics.

 

This represents an important move away from relying principally on broad, criteria-based policies. Instead, local planning authorities will need to develop a more detailed understanding of what different industries require and ensure that the right types of employment land are available in the right locations. Policy E1 also seeks to avoid sites being reserved too narrowly for individual niche industries, allowing sufficient flexibility for markets and technologies to evolve. The Local Government Association's summary of the changes has described this as a form of "zoning for growth".

 

One area where this could have a particularly significant effect is open storage.

 

While the delivery of large warehouses is often used as evidence that storage and distribution needs have been met, warehouse development serves a different purpose to open storage sites. Measuring the amount of warehouse floorspace delivered in an area does not necessarily indicate whether the needs of the wider industrial and logistics economy are being accommodated.

 

Many businesses depend on secure, accessible open storage land rather than extensive built floorspace. Construction companies, plant and equipment operators, infrastructure contractors, vehicle storage businesses and organisations supporting the energy transition often require operational yards with relatively limited building coverage. While these uses may fall within, or share characteristics with, B8 storage and distribution development, their operational and locational requirements can be fundamentally different from those of a large distribution warehouse.

 

Jonathan Buckwell, Planning Director at DHA, comments:

 

“The amount of warehouse floorspace delivered in an area does not necessarily tell us whether the needs of the wider industrial and logistics economy are being met. Open storage is essential to many businesses, but it is frequently overlooked in employment land assessments because its need is expressed in land rather than floorspace.

 

“Policies E1 and E2 should encourage authorities to look beyond broad use-class labels and plan for a genuinely diverse range of commercial sites. The challenge will be translating that ambition into allocations which are sufficiently flexible to respond as UK industry evolves.”

 

The new policy framework presents an opportunity for landowners, developers and operators to demonstrate unmet demand for open storage and other specialist employment uses through employment land reviews, call-for-sites exercises and emerging local plans. As authorities review their evidence bases and allocate land to support economic growth, there may be greater scope to highlight the distinct requirements of uses that cannot be accommodated within conventional warehouse developments.

 

For local planning authorities, the message is equally clear. Meeting identified B8 needs cannot simply be a matter of calculating warehouse floorspace provision. A modern economy relies on a broad range of employment sites, many of which have different operational requirements, land take characteristics and locational needs.

 

As local plans and employment land evidence bases evolve in response to the new NPPF, there may be opportunities for landowners, operators and developers to promote sites that meet specialist commercial needs. To discuss the planning implications for your site or project, please contact Jonathan Buckwell or a member of the DHA Planning team.