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Reeves ‘genuinely shocked’ at slow planning system but reform on horizon

Reeves ‘genuinely shocked’ at slow planning system but reform on horizon
Anna Sagar
Written By:
Posted:
29/01/2025
Updated:
29/01/2025

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said today that she would go “further and faster” to kick-start economic growth, with one crucial element of that plan being reforming the planning system.

She said she had been “genuinely shocked about how slow our planning system is”, but that colleagues had already determined 13 major planning decisions in just six months including airports, data centres and housing developments.

“We have significantly raised housing targets across our country and made them mandatory, so that we can build one-and-a-half million homes in this Parliament.

“We have reformed decades-old ‘green belt’ policies, making it easier to build on the ‘grey belt’ land around our major cities.

“And we have opened up our planning system to build new infrastructure – like onshore wind farms or data centres driving the AI revolution,” she said.

Reeves reiterated that the Planning and Infrastructure Bill was a “priority” for the government and it would be introduced in the spring.

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“We will work tirelessly in Parliament to ensure its smooth and speedy and rapid delivery,” she noted.

Reeves said it was going to introduce a new approach to “planning decisions on land around stations, changing the default answer to year”.

More detail needed from government on planning system reform

Nathan Emerson, CEO of Propertymark, said the Chancellor’s words would be “welcome news”, and said it hoped that when the Planning and Infrastructure Bill becomes law, it can “deliver the correct level of housing in regions where demand is prevalent”.

“It is reassuring to see housing play a key part of Ms Reeves’ mission to make Cambridge a technological hub by delivering 4,500 new homes. However, with continuous guarantees to build more homes, more detail is needed as to how the Chancellor will develop the UK’s workforce and skills to meet its ambitious targets, as currently the UK government would need to build thousands of new homes every week before the next election in order to meet its goals,” he added.

Ross Dalzell, managing director of property at Aldermore, commented that the “commitment to accelerate building and infrastructure projects, by streamlining the planning process, will be fundamental to delivering much-needed economic growth”.

“However, we’re concerned that this cannot be made a reality without addressing the related shortfalls in skills and labour supply. The UK cannot meet its growth potential without reforming every stage of the planning cycle.

“To address these challenges, Aldermore is calling for the government to align Skills England with local authorities to address current labour shortages, particularly utilising local government as a training ground for the construction sector and ensuring that the UK has sufficient planners to deliver the necessary reform,” he added.

Dalzell said that to accelerate the delivery of the Chancellor’s announcements, the government “must also recognise the role that SME construction firms can and must play, and provide the necessary financial and legislative incentives and securities”.

Nick Sanderson, CEO of Audley Group, said it was the right focus by the Chancellor regarding the “need to unlock our complex and sometimes bureaucratic planning system”.

“The Planning and Infrastructure Bill must address the housing challenge this country faces in a more creative way. It’s not just about approving large-scale housing developments for first-time buyers.

“It’s about enabling the building of more specialist housing, like much-needed units for older people, to free up the houses we already have. Only then can we see the growth that the Chancellor is focused on delivering, as well as giving people across the country the right housing for their needs,” he added.