York's next Local Plan is open for comment until 8 November, and land for homes and jobs can be put forward until 18 December. Adoption is due June 2029.

York has started work on a new Local Plan, only 19 months after adopting the last one. The first public consultation opened on Monday 28 September and runs until 11.59pm on Sunday 8 November.

The new plan will be called York Local Plan 2045. It will cover 2029 to 2045 and decide where homes, jobs, roads and green space can go. It will also be the rulebook the council uses to decide planning applications (City of York Council, 28 September 2026).

The current plan was adopted in February 2025. The council says it has to be redone because the government rewrote national planning policy this year.

Councillor Dave Merrett, the executive member for planning, said the new National Planning Policy Framework is “much more ambitious in supporting new home building and economic growth”. He said it is also “more rules-based about where development should go”.

Two consultations, two deadlines

There are two separate things open now:

  • The scoping consultation, until 11.59pm on 8 November. This asks whether the council has picked the right issues for the plan to tackle, and what evidence it should gather.
  • The Call for Sites, until 11.59pm on 18 December. Anyone can put forward land they think could take new homes, jobs, renewable energy, community facilities, green space or other uses.

Submitting a site does not mean it will be built on. Every site will be logged, mapped and assessed. The council says details of submitted sites, and the names of whoever put them forward, will be published on an online map (Call for Sites consultation).

What the council thinks the plan must cover

The council’s Easy Read summary lists the main issues it has identified (Easy Read summary, PDF). They include:

  • protecting important parts of York’s countryside so the city does not sprawl
  • deciding which towns and villages are the best places for development
  • building homes for older people, disabled people and students, and care homes for children
  • providing enough land for Gypsies and Travellers where it is needed
  • keeping development out of areas at risk of flooding
  • buses, trains, cycling and walking, and fewer cars on the road
  • schools, hospitals, parks and play areas
  • protecting historic buildings and wildlife
  • where to deal with waste and recycling
  • where minerals such as clay can be dug

The fuller scoping page adds the national pressures behind it. These are higher housing targets, updated Green Belt rules, and lining up with the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority’s own strategy for the wider region (Scoping consultation).

Why minerals and waste are in it

York used to plan for quarries and waste sites jointly with North Yorkshire Council and the North York Moors National Park. That arrangement has fallen apart. The national park has decided to put those policies in its own Local Plan, and North Yorkshire Council is considering the same.

So York’s plan now has to cover them too. The council’s Executive is being asked to confirm that on Tuesday 6 October. The report says the “principal challenge” is the extra scope, complexity and staff time this adds (Executive report pack, item 11).

The timetable to 2029

The council’s timetable, version 3.0, was published on 28 September (Local Plan timetable). Every date in it is described as “anticipated”.

Timeline of the York Local Plan 2045 timetable: scoping consultation closes November 2026; proposed content and evidence consultation July to September 2027; proposed plan consultation July to September 2028; submission for examination January 2029; adoption June 2029.
Graphic by The York Times. Source: City of York Council Local Plan timetable, version 3.0, 28 September 2026.
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Stage Anticipated date
Scoping consultation closes November 2026
Council’s readiness self-assessment published December 2026
Consultation on proposed content and evidence July to September 2027
Consultation on the proposed plan July to September 2028
Plan submitted for independent examination January 2029
Plan adopted June 2029

Between those stages, an “appointed person” gives advice twice, in November 2027 and October 2028. After the full draft is published, a planning inspector examines it before it can be adopted.

What it means for you

  • If you care what gets built near you: this is the earliest point to have a say. The questions now are about what the plan covers, not where houses go. But the issues settled now shape every later stage.
  • If you own land, or know of a site: the Call for Sites closes on 18 December. You need a boundary, the current use, ownership and access, and what it could be used for. Your name will be published with the site.
  • If you want to stop a field being built on: watch for the 2027 consultation. That is when the council expects to set out its proposed content and evidence.
  • How to respond: online through the council’s scoping consultation page, by email to localplan@york.gov.uk, or by post to FREEPOST RTEG-TYYU-KLTZ, Strategic Planning Policy, West Offices, Station Rise, York YO1 6GA. No stamp is needed. You can also ask for a face-to-face appointment on 01904 552255.

Our York planning news page tracks the applications being decided now under the current plan. Our earlier reports cover York Central’s first 1,014 homes and the 360-home Stockton Lane request on ST7, the largest housing allocation in the current plan.

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