Introducing Legislation for Planning and Infrastructure in Parliament
The UK government has introduced a significant piece of legislation aimed at boosting housebuilding and infrastructure delivery across England. The Planning and Infrastructure Bill, presented in Parliament on March 11, outlines a series of reforms designed to speed up planning decisions, address long-standing delays, and provide more control to smaller builders and self-builders.
One of the key reforms is the introduction of a £16 billion National Housing Bank via Homes England. This bank will provide low-interest loans, guarantees, and investment to individuals and small builders, addressing a major barrier for self-builders under the Right to Build scheme.
Empowering Development Corporations, public bodies with the power to fast-track land development and planning permissions, is another significant change. This move aims to release land for housing, particularly where local councils have struggled to deliver new homes.
The Bill also mandates spatial Development Strategies, which will better align local plans with national housing targets and infrastructure priorities, ensuring better coordination of planning efforts. Various 'spatial development strategies' will be delivered for multiple areas, spanning local planning authorities, identifying the most sustainable areas to build.
To improve the quality and speed of planning decisions, training for planning committee members will become compulsory. Measures are also included to accelerate housing delivery by simplifying approval processes, including tightening the pre-application consultation requirements for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs).
Faster infrastructure planning is another focus, with the Bill targeting delays in infrastructure projects by enabling projects to be taken out of the scope of the 2008 Act where appropriate, refining judicial review procedures to reduce legal challenges, and committing to regular updates of National Policy Statements every five years to provide greater certainty for developers and investors.
The Bill also includes compulsory purchase reforms and provisions for projects to deliver clean power to be prioritised for grid connections. Builders will have the option to pay into the Nature Restoration Fund to waive environmental obligations on individual projects.
The Planning and Infrastructure Bill is part of the government's commitment to provide 1.5 million new homes as part of their economic growth strategy, a promise made since the snap election last July. The government's stance is to cut planning reform involvement to reduce red tape, with the intention for the legislation to speed up planning decisions to increase housebuilding.
The Bill is expected to help in the construction of roads, railway lines, and windfarms, and infrastructure applications will be assessed against national policies, which will be updated at least every five years. Local authorities will be allowed to establish their own planning fees to cover costs, and people living within 500 metres of new pylons across Great Britain will get money off their electricity bills.
In a related news, Angela Rayner, the Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State, stated that the Bill aims to lift bureaucratic burdens and boost developments. However, the Bill does not explicitly mention the reduction of planning reform involvement to cut red tape, the prosecution of a Staffordshire woman for failing to remove illegal waste, or the launch of the Nature Restoration Fund. Challenging government decisions on major infrastructure projects will become more difficult, as 'meritless' cases can only have one chance at a legal challenge.
- The National Housing Bank, established via Homes England with a £16 billion fund, is designed to offer low-interest loans, guarantees, and investments to individuals and small builders, addressing a significant barrier in self-building, as outlined in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill.
- ToRelease land for housing, especially in areas where local councils have faced difficulties delivering new homes, the Bill empowers Development Corporations, public bodies with the power to fast-track land development and planning permissions.
- Training for planning committee members will become compulsory and various spatial Development Strategies will be delivered for multiple areas, spanning local planning authorities, as part of the Bill's aim to ensure better coordination of planning efforts and align local plans with national housing targets and infrastructure priorities.
- The Bill focuses on improving the quality and speed of planning decisions and infrastructure delivery by simplifying approval processes, reducing legal challenges for infrastructure projects, and committing to regular updates of National Policy Statements every five years to provide greater certainty for developers and investors.
