Amendments to Planning and Infrastructure Bill give government more powers

The Labour government has vowed to “sweep aside the blockers” as it announces amendments to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill.

Under the amendments, ministers could gain new powers to prevent local councils from rejecting planning applications.

The bill will return to the House of Lords next week for its report stage, where peers are set to debate the proposed amendments.

Preventing planning permissions from being timed out

Under the new amendments tabled by the government, the Secretary of State for Housing could get new powers to stop councils rejecting planning permissions by using their ‘call-in’ powers.

Under existing rules, they can only issue these holds when councils are set to approve applications.

The government could also gain powers to tackle blockers in court by preventing planning permissions from being timed out for approved major housing schemes facing lengthy judicial reviews.

Other proposed amendments include unlocking more offshore wind farms and speeding up approvals for large reservoirs by allowing non-water sector companies to build reservoirs that are automatically considered nationally significant infrastructure projects.

The changes would also streamline Natural England’s role to accelerate approvals for new homes and infrastructure by reducing unnecessary duplication and giving greater discretion to focus on applications that pose higher risks or offer stronger opportunities for nature recovery, while providing standard guidance to local authorities for straightforward cases.

The outdated planning system has been gummed up by burdensome bureaucracy

The government accused councils of “dragging their feet” when it comes to building, as they claim nearly 900 major housing schemes have been blocked in the past year alone.

Housing Secretary, Steve Reed, repeated his mantra to “build, baby, build” and said the Planning and Infrastructure bill will help the government reach its 1.5 million homes target by the end of this Parliament.

He said: “Britain’s potential has been shackled by governments unwilling to overhaul the stubborn planning system that has erected barriers to building at every turn. It is simply not true that nature has to lose for economic growth to succeed.

“Sluggish planning has real-world consequences. Every new house blocked deprives a family of a home. Every infrastructure project that gets delayed blocks someone from a much-needed job. This will now end.

“The changes we are making will strengthen the seismic shift already underway through our landmark Bill. We will ‘Build, baby, build’ with 1.5 million new homes and communities that working people desperately want and need.”

Chancellor Rachel Reeves also added the bill will help investors by cutting red tape.

She said: “The outdated planning system has been gummed up by burdensome bureaucracy and held to ransom by blockers for too long.

“Our pro-growth planning bill shows we are serious about cutting red tape to get Britain building again, backing the builders, not the blockers, to speed up projects and show investors that we are a country that gets spades in the ground and our economy growing.”

Industry reaction to Planning and Infrastructure Bill amendments

However, many industry experts, are sceptical over the bill with some arguing it fails to address the real challenges around housing delivery.

Anna Moore, co-founder and CEO of retrofit specialist Domna, said: “The government’s announcement to further streamline planning rules is welcome but ignores the elephant in the room of housing delivery, namely that it is far easier and cheaper to fix already existing homes than it is to build new ones. It is striking that ministers have proposed to make compulsory purchase easier for new development land, but not for existing empty homes.

“While building new homes will deliver supply in several years’ time, restoring the 350,000 long-term vacant homes will increase supply far more quickly and without the associated cost or environmental impact of new construction.”

She adds: “Meanwhile, the proposal to unlock sites for critical energy infrastructure, and by extension secure 3GW of onshore wind, is welcome in the context of the climate emergency. But while we wait for these long-term investments to come online, it is crucial to those struggling with the cost of living that the government invests in measures that make homes cheaper and more efficient to heat now.

“From dual-use heat pumps to wall cavity insulation, improving the energy efficiency of the UK’s homes will offer immediate financial relief for huge numbers of families at little cost to the state.”

Danny Pinder, director of policy (real estate), British Property Federation, said: “The government’s planning reforms to date have been necessary but not sufficient to get Britain building. The relentless focus on unblocking new development is welcome insofar as it seeks to give industry the confidence to invest in new homes, workspaces and places, as long as the plan-led system remains the core mechanism for delivering development.

“However, the biggest barriers to development delivery are significant viability challenges, delays caused by bottlenecks at the Building Safety Regulator, and an increasingly cautious position being adopted by investors due to the current economic climate. We need to see action on these by the Budget at the very latest.”