Minister for Housing and Planning (): Over the past 20
months, this government has taken a series of bold and decisive
steps to lay the grounds for high and sustainable rates of
housebuilding and improved infrastructure delivery in the years
ahead. Today, I am announcing a series of further targeted
measures to help stimulate housing supply and infrastructure
provision.
To facilitate the more effective delivery of critical
infrastructure, we are publishing an implementation plan, which
can be found on gov.uk here(opens in a new tab),
that sets out in detail the steps we will take over the coming
months to bring into force the beneficial reforms to the
Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIP) system
contained in our landmark Planning and Infrastructure Act.
This implementation plan will give applicants, investors,
practitioners, local planning authorities and other statutory
bodies, and affected communities the clarity they need to realise
the full potential of our reforms. Its publication supplements
the efforts already underway to test more efficient and
streamlined approaches to determining Development Consent Order
(DCO) applications, including smoother and faster Planning
Inspectorate examinations where appropriate and pilots for key
projects like East West Rail to make use of new flexibilities.
To provide further support for housebuilding, a new Consultation
Direction will be made this month specifying that where a Local
Planning Authority (LPA) intends to refuse planning permission
for a housing scheme of 150 dwellings or more, they must consult
the Secretary of State to enable Ministers to decide whether to
use their existing powers to call in that planning application.
I am also confirming today that we will consult on further
proposed changes to the Consultation Direction covering
commercial development of 15,000 sqm or more and approvals within
Detailed Emergency Planning Zones (DEPZs). The relevant
consultation can be found on gov.uk here(opens in a new tab).
The Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 introduced new powers
for local fee setting which will enable LPAs to set their own
planning application fees through a local variation model. Under
this approach, a national default fee will remain in place and
apply to all LPAs, unless an LPA chooses to vary from the default
fee for any or all application fee categories to reflect their
own cost recovery needs.
We are today launching a consultation on the National Default Fee
Schedule designed to better reflect the costs LPAs incur. This is
a vital step towards better resourcing LPAs and driving better
outcomes including faster determination times, improved service
standards and stronger performance across the planning system.
The relevant consultation can be found on gov.uk here(opens in a new tab).
We have also published regulations to fully implement the power
for Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPOs) to be conditionally
confirmed. This will give councils greater confidence to use CPOs
earlier to deliver public benefits, help progress stalled sites
and provide certainty in respect of land assembly. The
regulations can be found on gov.uk here(opens in a new tab).
I can also confirm today the allocation of £234 million of
devolved land and infrastructure grant funding from our new
National Housing Delivery Fund (NHDF) for Mayoral Strategic
Authorities in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, the East
Midlands, Greater Lincolnshire, Hull & East Yorkshire, Tees
Valley, West of England and York & North Yorkshire. This will
be delivered as a continuation of the existing Brownfield Housing
Fund (BHF) to enable Mayors to collectively enable the delivery
of up to 8,000 new homes.
Finally, I am announcing today that we intend to award an £8.2
million contract to Google and Faculty to develop an AI-powered
planning tool designed to halve the time it takes for planners to
process minor household applications so that LPAs can provide a
more efficient, high-quality planning service.
