Planning and Infrastructure Bill receives Royal Assent

The Planning and Infrastructure Bill has received Royal Assent and will soon become law.

The Act aims to speed up the delivery of new homes by slashing red tape in the planning system to meet Labour’s target of 1.5 million homes by the end of this Parliament.

Propertymark welcomes the Act but warns the 1.5 million homes target will be challenging to meet.

Britain’s growth has been held back by a sluggish planning system

Under the Planning and Infrastructure Act, new regulations will allow councils to set their own planning fees, covering the full cost of assessing applications for new homes and infrastructure.

The legislation will also limit legal challenges to major infrastructure decisions, cutting appeals deemed totally without merit to a single attempt rather than three.

Planning committees will be updated to focus on the most significant developments, speeding up decisions on smaller housing schemes, while development corporations will gain extra powers to accelerate large-scale projects, including the next generation of new towns and affordable homes.

Housing Secretary Steve Reed says these measures will help meet Labour’s 1.5 million homes target.

He said: “Britain’s growth has been held back by a sluggish planning system, slamming the brakes on building and standing in the way of fixing the housing crisis for good.

“Our landmark Planning and Infrastructure Act will tear down barriers to growth, and this means getting spades in the ground faster, unshackling projects stuck in planning limbo and crucially unlocking a win-win for the environment and the economy.

“We’re ushering in a new era to build 1.5 million homes that will give families a secure roof over their head, alongside key infrastructure to create high-paying jobs and power our homes and businesses. That’s exactly the Britain I want to see so it’s time to get on with the job and build baby build.”

Government risks falling short of its target

Nathan Emerson, CEO of Propertymark, says without a skilled workforce to deliver homes the Planning and Infrastructure Act could fail.

He said: “While we welcome the UK government’s ambition to reform the planning system and make greater use of brownfield and ‘grey belt’ land to help deliver 1.5 million new homes in England, meeting such a significant target before 2029 is becoming increasingly challenging.

“A substantial increase in housing supply is essential to help rebalance house prices over the longer term, particularly while demand for new homes remains high. However, without a sufficiently skilled workforce to deliver thousands of homes each day, the UK government risks falling short of its target.

“Now that the Planning and Infrastructure Bill has received Royal Assent, we look forward to seeing further clarity on how the necessary skills, capacity and supply chain will be put in place, alongside a realistic and deliverable timetable for bringing these homes forward.”