Our chief executive Paul Campbell was invited to attend a roundtable on the Planning & Infrastructure Bill at 10 Downing Street yesterday, ahead of the introduction of the legislation today.
Paul joined Deputy Prime Minister, Rt Hon Angela Rayner MP, and Minister of State for Housing and Planning, Matthew Pennycook MP alongside senior policy officials from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and fellow industry leaders.
Paul introduced himself as both a board member of the Land Planning and Development Federation and CEO of Richborough and made points including:
- The impressiveness of the Government’s ambitions and speed of action which have increased industry confidence
- Land promoters are responsible for over half of the major residential permissions and that a recent survey of LPDF members suggested they are looking to increase output by 160% this year.
- Richborough more than doubled its team in 2024 to push growth predicated on Labours pro-growth stance in opposition and actions since it took office
- In 2023 Richborough submitted applications for less than 2,000 dwellings which increased to 7,300 in 2024 (over 400% increase) with aim to submit at least 12,000 plots in 2025 (a 700% increase from 2023)
- The proposed national scheme of delegation to reduce the amount of planning applications is essential to create the necessary bandwidth in the system to cope with the increase in planning applications and flow of consents
- That LPA’s need to be made to publish data on the time taken to determine planning applications and in a manner which is not distorted by accounting for extensions of time which gives a false impression of better performance
Paul Campbell said: “Shaping government planning policy and delivering much needed places for people to live and work are key to my work for both the LPDF and Richborough, so it was a privilege to be invited to No 10 and hear first-hand the pro-growth ambitions and actions of Government.
“It was a great opportunity to share knowledge with politicians and industry experts, and to welcome the launch of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill which will speed up and simplify the planning system and increase the delivery of new homes and infrastructure.”
Paul was also delighted to meet Larry the cat, Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office, on his way in!
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Introduced to Parliament on 11 March 2025, The Planning and Infrastructure Bill will see significant measures introduced to speed up planning decisions to boost housebuilding and remove unnecessary blockers and challenges to the delivery of vital developments like roads, railway lines and windfarms. This will boost economic growth, connectivity and energy security whilst also delivering for the environment.
Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing, Angela Rayner said:
“We’re creating the biggest building boom in a generation – as a major step forward in getting Britain building again and unleashing economic growth in every corner of the country, by lifting the bureaucratic burden which has been holding back developments for too long.
“The Planning and Infrastructure Bill will unleash seismic reforms to help builders get shovels in the ground quicker to build more homes, and the vital infrastructure we need to improve transport links and make Britain a clean energy superpower to protect billpayers.
“It will help us to deliver the 1.5 million homes we have committed to so we can tackle the housing crisis we have inherited head on – not only for people desperate to buy a home, but for the families and young children stuck in temporary accommodation and in need of a safe, secure roof over their heads.
“These reforms are at the heart of our Plan for Change, ensuring we are backing the builders, taking on the blockers, and delivering the homes and infrastructure this country so badly needs.”
Key planning and development measures in The Planning and Infrastructure Bill include:
Planning Committees
Housebuilding will be backed by streamlining planning decisions through the introduction of a national scheme of delegation that will set out which types of applications should be determined by officers and which should go to committee, controls over the size of planning committees to ensure good debate is encouraged with large and unwieldy committees banned, and mandatory training for planning committee members. Councils will also be empowered to set their own planning fees to allow them to cover their costs – with the stretched system currently running at a deficit of £362 million in the recent year. This money will be reinvested back into the system to speed it up.
Nature Restoration Fund
A Nature Restoration Fund will be established to ensure there is a win-win for both the economy and nature by ensuring builders can meet their environmental obligations faster and at a greater scale by pooling contributions to fund larger environmental interventions. These changes will remove time intensive and costly processes, with payments into the fund allowing building to proceed while wider action is taken to secure the environmental improvements we need.
Compulsory Purchase Reform
Land needed to drive forward housing or major developments could also be bought more efficiently thanks to reforms to boost economic growth and drive forward local regeneration efforts. The compulsory purchase process – which allows land to be acquired for projects that are in the public interest – will be improved to ensure important developments delivering public benefits can progress. The reforms will ensure compensation paid to landowners is not excessive and the process of using directions to remove ‘hope value’ – the value attributed to the prospect of planning permission being granted for alternative development – where justified in the public interest is sped-up. Inspectors, councils or mayors where there are no objections, will take decisions instead of the Secretary of State.
Development Corporations
Development Corporations will be strengthened to make it easier to deliver large-scale development – like the government’s new towns – and build 1.5 million homes alongside the required infrastructure. They were used in the past to deliver the post-war new towns and play a vital role when the risk or scale of a development is too great for the private sector. Their enhanced powers will help deliver the vision for the next generation of new towns – a new programme of well-designed, beautiful communities with affordable housing, GP surgeries, schools and public transport where people will want to live.
Strategic Planning
The Bill will introduce a system of ‘strategic planning’ across England known as spatial development strategies, which will help to boost growth by looking across multiple local planning authorities for the most sustainable areas to build and by ensuring there is a clear join-up between development needs and infrastructure requirements. These plans will be produced by mayors, or by local authorities in some cases, and will ensure the level of building across the country meets the country’s needs.
National Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIP)
The Bill will ensure a faster NSIP regime that delivers infrastructure projects faster. It will make sure the consultation requirements for projects – such as windfarms, roads or railway lines – are streamlined, and ensure the national policies against which infrastructure applications are assessed is updated at least every five years so the government’s priorities are clear. Other changes will be made to the Highways Act and the Transport and Works Act to reduce bureaucracy so transport projects can progress quicker.
The government will further overhaul the process by which government decisions on major infrastructure projects can be challenged. Meritless cases will only have one – rather than three – attempts at legal challenge. Data shows that over half – 58% – of all decisions on major infrastructure were taken to court, including windfarms in East Anglia which was delayed by over two years as a result of unsuccessful challenges.
Read more about the bill on the Government website (link tbc)