Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025: Legal comment as Bill receives royal assent

The UK government’s landmark to legislation designed to help it meet an ambition for building 1.5 million homes has received royal assent. The Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 today (18 December) made its final passage through Parliament. 

It is the second set of reforms announced this week, following a consultation into a revised version of the National Planning Policy Framework.

Ben Standing, Partner in planning at UK and Ireland law firm Browne Jacobson, said: “Following hot on the heels of the wide-ranging reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) announced earlier this week, the passage of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill today indicates the government is doubling down on its commitment to putting housebuilding at the centre of its economic growth mission.

“There’s a clear link between the legislative and policy instruments being used by government. While the latest NPPF reforms aim to unlock small and medium-sized plots for development via a suite of changes – including a new ‘medium’ category for sites, exemptions for smaller sites from biodiversity net gain regulations and new benchmark land values – much of the focus of the Planning and Infrastructure Act is on large-scale developments.

“This includes streamlining consultations for nationally significant infrastructure projects (NSIPs), bolstering development corporations to deliver large-scale new towns and communities, and implementing greater compulsory purchase order powers for critical infrastructure such as houses, schools and hospitals.

“Replicating spatial development strategies that are already established in London across the English regions is designed to facilitate a joined-up approach across multiple local authorities to identify the most suitable places to build houses and associated infrastructure.

“To help meet its 1.5 million homes target this parliament, the government wants to simplify a fragmented decision-making process within local authorities, embedding consistency on a national basis regarding who determines planning applications. This will make it easier for developers to understand how their applications will be handled. 

“It’s important, however, that government considers the impact of new housing on local communities. With the discourse often around which areas carry the ‘burden’ of new housing, planning reform should be complemented by a dedicated drive to meaningfully engage communities so the benefits of development are shared by everyone.

“While electricity bill discounts for communities hosting new energy infrastructure are a step in the right direction, the government should consider the establishment of citizen assemblies to ensure developments respond to community priorities, such as a lack of GP and school capacity, inadequate roads and railways, or underinvestment in leisure facilities.

“For developers, they will also want to see the government consider how to improve the viability of construction projects by tackling acute skills gaps, and rising costs of raw materials and borrowing, while addressing regulations and new taxes like the Building Safety Levy that continue to squeeze margins.”