Following its introduction at the party conference, the government published the National Design Guide on 1st October alongside a raft of changes on design in the Planning Practice Guidance (PPG) to drive up the quality of new homes and reinforce the aim of the NPPF to create high quality places and buildings. This is the first national update to design guidance in nearly a decade. The National Design Guide sets out the characteristics of well-designed places intended to foster local character, community and be sensitive to climate change. These are: context, identity, built form, movement, nature, public spaces, uses, homes and buildings, resources and lifespan. The design section of the PPG has been replaced with a revised section called Design: Process And Tools and provides guidance on the practices of good design. As part of this update, the Neighbourhood Planning Toolkit, which provides some basic design guidance to those involved in the preparation of neighbourhood plans, has also been updated.
The National Design Guide can be found here https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-design-guide