The government has announced a series of last-minute amendments to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which it says will slash planning delays and speed up home building. But the countryside charity CPRE has called the changes ‘a dangerous erosion of democracy’ and says they are ‘an astounding capitulation to big developers’.
Amendments to the bill, which is due to enter the report stage at the House of Lords next Monday, were described as a ‘pro-growth package’ in a statement from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, with new measures to cut delays, give new powers to the secretary of state, and ‘turbocharge’ the Plan for Change.
If the amendments are voted through, ministers will be given new ‘call-in’ powers to prevent planning applications being rejected by issuing holding directions to local councils. ‘Currently some councils are dragging their feet to get on and build with nearly 900 major housing schemes blocked in the past year alone’, MHCLG’s statement said. ‘This will ensure ministers can properly use their call-in powers where necessary to boost growth and build more homes’.
Builders will also receive what the statement refers to as ‘a helping hand’ to stop planning permissions timing out on approved housing projects subject to judicial review, building on existing measures to cut back ‘meritless legal challenges’ for major infrastructure projects and reducing the statutory pre-consultation period by a year. Unblocking the schemes will enable money to be spent ‘on getting spades in the ground rather than starting back at square one’, MHCLG said.
Other proposed measures include enabling non-water sector companies to build reservoirs, creating more onshore windfarms, and streamlining Natural England’s role by reducing duplication and allowing greater discretion to focus on applications that pose higher risks or present stronger opportunities for nature recovery, with standard guidance provided to local authorities for straightforward cases.
‘Britain’s potential has been shackled by governments unwilling to overhaul the stubborn planning system that has erected barriers to building at every turn’, the housing secretary, Steve Reed, said.
“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 today 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.”
However, CPRE chief executive Roger Mortlock slammed the measures, saying they would cause irreversible damage to communities and wildlife. ‘These eleventh hour amendments to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill represent a dangerous erosion of democracy’, he said.
“They are an astounding capitulation to the same big developers that have consistently failed to deliver the homes people need. The housing secretary claims that sluggish planning has ‘real world consequences’. So too would the removal of vital legal safeguards. Blocking judges from halting approvals while legal challenges proceed would allow unlawful projects to cause irreversible damage to communities, wildlife and the wider environment.
“Giving ministers powers to override local council rejections further strips communities of their voice in decisions that affect their areas, as does restricting access to judicial review. CPRE’s research shows there is enough brownfield land in England for more than 1.4 million new homes. It’s possible to build the affordable and sustainable homes people need while still protecting the countryside and nature. What’s required isn’t the removal of democratic safeguards, but a shake-up of our broken housing market and proper investment in a planning system that works for communities, not just big developers.”
The government says the reforms it has already made to the planning system will drive housebuilding to its highest level for 40 years, and its changes could benefit the economy by up to £7.5 billion over the next 10 years. But Daniel Austin, CEO and co-founder at specialist property lender ASK Partners, said the planning reforms won’t solve the housing crisis. ‘The construction industry faces a chronic shortage of skilled labour, worsened by tighter immigration rules and new regulatory burdens such as the Building Safety Act’, he said.
“Capital Economics estimates an additional 500,000 workers are needed just to meet the government’s housing targets, a figure that highlights the urgent need for a joined-up approach. If Labour truly wants to deliver 1.5 million homes and drive economic growth, it must align planning reform with a coherent workforce and financing strategy: enabling access to skilled labour, speeding up approvals, and supporting SMEs to deliver viable, sustainable communities.
“Anything less risks turning a housing crisis into a full-blown collapse.”
The government’s package of amendments to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill can be read in full here.
