Planning Policy Guidance Note 3: Housing, commonly abbreviated as PPG 3, is a document produced by the British Government to advise local planning authorities on the treatment of housing within the planning process. The current version was introduced in March 2000 following the Rogers Report

Towards an Urban Renaissance

Towards an Urban Renaissance was a report written by the United Kingdom's Urban Task Force headed by Richard Rogers and published on 29 June 1999...

 and replaced the 1992 version. Two updates were published on 24 January 2005 - Planning Policy Guidance 3: Housing: Planning for sustainable communities in rural areas and Planning Policy Guidance 3: Housing: Supporting the delivery of new housing.

PPG3 was introduced to steer policy away from the development of large, spacious houses on greenfield

Greenfield land

Greenfield land is a term used to describe undeveloped land in a city or rural area either used for agriculture, landscape design, or left to naturally evolve...

 sites, towards higher density development using brownfield or urban sites wherever possible. It also sought to compel developers to provide a greater element of affordable housing

Affordable housing

Affordable housing is a term used to describe dwelling units whose total housing costs are deemed "affordable" to those that have a median income. Although the term is often applied to rental housing that is within the financial means of those in the lower income ranges of a geographical area, the...

.

Because of the slow speed at which Local Planning Authorities

Local Planning Authority

A local planning authority is the local authority or council that is empowered by law to exercise planning functions for a particular area of the United Kingdom. Although, in Scotland, where all of the local authorities are unitary, the term 'planning authority' is used without the 'local'...

 Local Plans

Local Plans

In United Kingdom planning law, a local plan is an old-style development plan prepared by district and other local planning authorities. By virtue of specific transitional provisions, these plans will continue to operate for a time after the commencement of the new development plan system brought...

 were updated - and the recent changes to the planning system which abolished Local Plans

Local Plans

In United Kingdom planning law, a local plan is an old-style development plan prepared by district and other local planning authorities. By virtue of specific transitional provisions, these plans will continue to operate for a time after the commencement of the new development plan system brought...

 in favour of Local Development Frameworks

Local Development Frameworks

A local development framework is the spatial planning strategy introduced in England and Wales by the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 and given detail in Planning Policy Statements 12...

 - local policy is often at variance with PPG3, resulting in confusion and a higher incidence of planning appeals.

PPG3 was replaced with Planning Policy Statement 3 (PPS3

PPS 3

Planning Policy Statement 3: Housing was published in November 2006, outlining the strategic housing policy of the government of the United Kingdom, which was "to ensure that everyone has the opportunity of living in a decent home, which they can afford, in a community where they want to live." The...

) in November 2006.

See also

• Planning Policy Guidance Notes
  Planning Policy Guidance Notes
  In the United Kingdom, Planning Policy Guidance Notes are statements of the Government's national policy and principles towards certain aspects of the town planning framework. They apply to England only...
  
  
• Town and country planning in the United Kingdom
  Town and country planning in the United Kingdom
  Town and Country Planning is the land use planning system governments use to balance economic development and environmental quality. Each country of the United Kingdom has its own planning system that is responsible for town and country planning devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly, the...