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Shaping the future: Your guide to planning reforms

The Government’s planning and infrastructure reforms in 2025 aim to streamline processes and accelerate the delivery of critical housing and infrastructure projects. 

But what are the key points, and will they work?

Planning and Infrastructure Bill

Streamlining: This part of the bill focuses on making consultation requirements for developers more proportionate, reducing bureaucracy and ensuring a smoother process. 

National Policy Statements will now occur every five years, providing developers with greater clarity and certainty when submitting planning applications.

Reform to consultees: A major reform involves suspending new statutory consultees. 

This aims to reduce delays caused by too many stakeholders providing feedback on development plans. 

A review will ensure the existing system is streamlined to align with growth ambitions.

Fast-tracking infrastructure: The bill, set to be introduced in Spring 2025, will grant powers to expedite the planning and approval of essential infrastructure projects, such as energy plants, transportation networks and wind farms. 

However, it will place some restrictions on the right to object and appeal.

Legal challenges to infrastructure projects

Legal blocking: Developers can face multiple rounds of legal challenges. 

However, under the new system, only one attempt at a legal challenge will be allowed for cases with little chance of success, thereby preventing unnecessary delays. 

This may well face strong opposition before being passed.

National planning policy framework reform

The Government is also implementing key changes to the framework to improve housing delivery and urban development.

These focus on increasing housing availability, promoting affordable housing and ensuring local authorities adhere to strict planning timelines.

Housing targets: Local councils will face higher housing targets, particularly in areas with the greatest housing unaffordability and growth potential.

Local authorities will need to regularly update local plans to meet these targets, with an emphasis on delivering the broader goal of 370,000 new homes per year.

Greenbelts: While brownfield sites will remain top priority for development, the Government is introducing ‘golden rules’ for greenbelt land development.

Some areas of greenbelt land may be reclassified as ‘grey belt’ land, allowing for development while balancing environmental concerns.

Social rent housing: Developers will be required to prioritise social rent housing when building new homes, with strict targets in place. 

However, the question remains: will developers be able to make it financially viable?

Planning committee reform

The Government is proposing a second working paper that focuses on planning committee reform.

The goal is to reduce delays and encourage faster approval processes for housing projects. 

The overarching aim is to deliver 1.5 million new homes within the next five years, contributing to the broader target of building 370,000 new homes annually. 

Impacts on your planning permission

These reforms could significantly affect how stakeholders secure planning permission for housing projects, making the process quicker and more predictable.

Watch this space

The Government wants to remove bureaucracy and speed up the process, which is a noble and well-thought-out idea. 

However, before we all rejoice, we must remember that Westminster governments have historically struggled to achieve their goals. 

Watch this space.

Tim Barrett is chair of Construction Alliance North East

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