The government’s landmark Planning and Infrastructure Bill received Royal Assent today (18 December).

The Act marks a major shift in how quickly new homes and infrastructure can be delivered in England. The most significant impact is the government’s renewed push to accelerate housebuilding, with the Act central to its target of delivering 1.5 million new homes this Parliament. By streamlining planning decisions, reducing legal delays, and modernising planning committees, the new law is designed to get housing developments out of planning limbo and into construction far more quickly. The Act also makes it easier to acquire land for housing and enables development corporations to fast-track large-scale projects, including new towns.

Water infrastructure is another key area of relevance. New powers to fast-track reservoirs, alongside the government’s commitment to long-term water reform through a forthcoming Water White Paper, underline the growing focus on water security.

The significant pro-growth changes will see up to £7.5 billion injected into the UK economy over the next decade, create more opportunities for working people to step onto the housing ladder, unlock more well-paying jobs, pave the way for less congestion on roads, and protect pay packets from the rollercoaster of energy shocks.

In the coming weeks and months, ministers will set out when the remaining reforms in the legislation will come into effect as the government steps up to the plate to go further and faster in getting Britain building.

Housing Secretary Steve Reed 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.

“Today that changes. 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.”

Further information

An overview of the measures contained within the Planning and Infrastructure Act can be found here.

Measures in the Act introduce new powers that come into force today. This includes:

• Enabling non-water sector companies to build reservoirs that are automatically considered as nationally significant infrastructure projects, which will speed up the approvals for large reservoirs.
• Creating new regulations that would allow councils to set their own planning fees so they can cover their costs when deciding upon applications for new homes and infrastructure.
• Introducing a system of strategic planning (known as spatial development strategies) that will look across multiple local planning authorities for the most sustainable areas to build and ensure new infrastructure is also being planned for to support the delivery of new housing.
• Giving new powers to the Secretary of State to create a financial benefit scheme to provide discounts on electricity bills for people living within 500 metres of new pylons.
• Replacing the flawed ‘first come, first served’ process to a ‘first ready, first connected’ system to prioritise the right clean power projects for quicker connections to the grid.
• Integrating new projects that generate electricity from renewable sources into the Public Forest Estate and exporting power from these projects to the National Grid.