Planning and Infrastructure Bill

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Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025[a]
Act of Parliament
coat of arms
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long titleAn Act to make provision about infrastructure; to make provision about town and country planning; to make provision for a scheme, administered by Natural England, for a nature restoration levy payable by developers; to make provision about development corporations; to make provision about the compulsory purchase of land; to make provision about environmental outcomes reports; and for connected purposes.
Citation2025 c. 34
Introduced byAngela Rayner MP (Commons)
Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lords)
Territorial extent 
[b]
Dates
Royal assent18 December 2025
Commencementvarious[c]
Other legislation
Amends
Status: Current legislation
History of passage through Parliament
Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended
Text of the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

The Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom significantly changing planning law in the United Kingdom.

The act makes substantial amendments to the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. The act allows the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to require local authorities to delegate planning functions to planning officers rather than councillors, makes Compulsory Purchase by public bodies easier, establishes a Nature Restoration Fund, and removes requirements for public consultation before applications for 'nationally significant infrastructure projects' are submitted.

Provisions

For 'nationally significant infrastructure projects', the legislation removes the requirement to "consult statutory consultees, landowners, local authorities and the community before submitting their application".[1]

The legislation reduces the number of available legal challenges to planning decisions from three to at most two.[2]

The legislation moves more decisions away from councillors and towards council officers by allowing the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to make regulations requiring local authorities to delegate planning functions to planning officers (not consisting of councillors, unlike planning committees).[3][1] It also requires all those making planning decisions to attend regulated training.[1]

The act establishes the Nature Restoration Fund managed by Natural England.[4] The legislation allows developers to contribute to the fund as part of meeting their environmental obligations.[5]

The act makes it easier for local and central government bodies to make Compulsory Purchase orders, and reduces associated compensatory loss payments.[1]

Implementation

On the 1 June 2026 the Government published its statutory guidance on 'Planning Committees and the National Scheme of Delegation of Planning Functions' following public consultation. The implementation of the delegation scheme was delayed to the 31 October 2026, with a review by October 2028.[6][7]

From 31 October the statutory guidance states that if local authorities "do not comply with the regulations from the date they come into force (31 October 2026) and their planning committees make decisions on applications which must be delegated to officers, those decisions may be subject to judicial review by anyone aggrieved by the decision".[8]

In February 2026, the government consulted on areas for strategic planning authorities, that will each produce a 'spatial development strategy'.[9]

Reception

The legislation had qualified support from the London Councils, and the County Councils Network local authority groups. London Councils said they were "supportive of reforms to speed up the delivery of the homes and jobs Londoners need" including decision delegation,[10] while the County Councils Network said they "support the aims of the Bill to speed up infrastructure delivery, improve the planning process and make it easier for development to be delivered through reforms to development corporations and compulsory purchase" while opposing the bill's "national scheme of delegation that will ultimately remove decision-making powers from councillors."[11]

The legislation was described by Wildlife Trusts as a "trojan horse", describing it as giving developers "cash to trash" green spaces and a "licence to destroy" nature.[12]

The Office for Environmental Protection criticised certain parts as weakening environmental protections, but supported most of the bill.[13][14]

Froglife criticized the bill for reducing environmental protections and continuing habitat loss in the UK.[15]

The legislation was supported by the Nuclear Industry Association[16], Energy UK[17], and the CBI. The CBI said that the bill "represents progress in reforming the planning system and moves the dial on delivering critical national infrastructure".[18]

Age UK said the legislation "presents an opportunity to help rectify the shortage of housing suitable for an ageing population."[19]

Notes

  1. Section 119.
  2. Section 117.
  3. Section 118.

References

  1. "Planning and Infrastructure Bill: HL Bill 110 of 2024–25 - House of Lords Library Briefing" (PDF). House of Lords Library. 19 June 2025. Retrieved 10 June 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. "Five key changes set out in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill". Institute for Government. 24 March 2025. Retrieved 1 August 2025.
  3. Coates, Sam (11 March 2025). "New planning bill could be the government's most important - but will it work in practice?". Sky News. Archived from the original on 9 June 2025. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
  4. "Government plan 'threat to nature', charity says". BBC News. 31 July 2025. Archived from the original on 21 April 2025. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
  5. Taylor, Harry (10 June 2025). "Fears of damage to nature from Labour planning reforms overblown, minister says". The Independent. Retrieved 31 July 2025.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  6. "Government delays planning committee reforms and promises review within two years". Inside Housing. Retrieved 10 June 2026.
  7. "Planning Committees and the National Scheme of Delegation of Planning Functions: Guidance for local planning authorities in England". GOV.UK. Retrieved 10 June 2026.
  8. "National scheme of delegation delayed by a month". The Planner.
  9. "Spatial Development Strategies – coming to an area near you". Savills. 20 February 2026. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
  10. "Written evidence submitted by London Councils (PIB72)". publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 10 June 2026.
  11. "Written evidence submitted by The County Councils Network to the House of Commons Committee on the Planning and Infrastructure Bill (PIB62)". publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 10 June 2026.
  12. McGuckin, Imogen (22 June 2025). "Why ecologists say Planning Bill is a 'Trojan horse' invading our green spaces". ITV News. Retrieved 31 July 2025.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  13. George, Sarah (2 May 2025). "Planning & Infrastructure Bill 'weakens environmental protections', watchdog warns". Edie. Retrieved 31 July 2025.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  14. Thompson, Sophie (31 July 2025). "Planning for both people and nature is not a contradiction". Building Design. Retrieved 31 July 2025.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  15. Wolfe, Danielle de (28 January 2026). "'Toad patrollers' help shepherd two million creatures across busy roads amid species decline". LBC. Retrieved 10 April 2026.
  16. "Written Evidence submitted by the Nuclear Industry Association to the House of Commons Public Bill Committee Planning & Infrastructure Bill (PIB138)". publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 10 June 2026.
  17. "Written evidence submitted by Energy UK to the House of Commons Committee on the Planning and Infrastructure Bill (PIB106)". publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 10 June 2026.
  18. "Written evidence submitted by The CBI to the House of Commons Committee on the Planning and Infrastructure Bill". publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 10 June 2026.
  19. "Written evidence submitted by Age UK to the House of Commons Committee on the Planning and Infrastructure Bill". publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 10 June 2026.