BLOGS

Introduction

The Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 received Royal Assent in December 2025 amid bold government claims that it would "tear down barriers to growth" and usher in a new era of housebuilding. Six months on, the property sector is asking a harder question: can streamlined approvals actually translate into 1.5 million new homes, or will familiar bottlenecks persist under new names?

The legislation introduces sweeping changes to how development is planned, approved, and challenged—from mandatory spatial strategies to modernised planning committees and reformed compulsory purchase powers. Meanwhile, the £39 billion Social and Affordable Homes Programme (SAHP) 2026-2036 represents the largest investment in social housing in recent memory. Yet with planning permissions in Q3 2025 down 31% year-on-year to their lowest quarterly total in 15 years, according to the Home Builders Federation, the gap between ambition and delivery has rarely felt wider.

What the Act changes—and why it matters for developers

The Planning and Infrastructure Act introduces several mechanisms designed to accelerate housing delivery:

Strategic spatial planning returns. For the first time in over a decade, local planning authorities will be required to prepare strategic "spatial development strategies" covering multiple areas. These plans must specify housing distribution targets, identify infrastructure requirements, and embed climate adaptation policies—creating a framework that should reduce piecemeal decision-making.

Planning committee modernisation. The Act directs local committees to focus on "the most significant developments rather than smaller projects," with mandatory training for councillors. For major housing schemes, this could reduce bottleneck delays where experienced officers lose time on minor applications.

Streamlined nationally significant infrastructure. National Policy Statements must now be updated every five years, with narrowed judicial review windows for major projects. This should provide greater certainty for infrastructure-heavy developments where utilities, transport links, or water supply have historically stalled progress.

CPO reform. Compulsory purchase processes have been streamlined, with parish and town councils now able to acquire land at existing use value for affordable housing. This removes "hope value" inflation that has made land assembly prohibitively expensive in high-demand areas.

REalyse data on planning applications from 2024-2025 reveals the scale of the challenge these reforms must address. Across major residential schemes, the average time from application to decision stands at around 249 days—but with significant regional variation. In some areas, decisions are taking over 340 days on average, while others process equivalent schemes in under 220 days. This disparity highlights that planning delays are often as much about local capacity as national policy.

Regional bottlenecks: where the pipeline is stuck

Analysis of major housing schemes (50+ units) submitted between 2024 and 2025 shows stark regional differences in planning throughput:

London dominates the pipeline but faces capacity constraints. Central London alone has nearly 99,000 residential units currently pending approval, far exceeding any other region. While the capital has the highest volume of approved applications, the sheer scale of pending schemes suggests processing capacity is struggling to keep pace with demand. Average decision times in London hover around 232 days for major flat developments.

The Midlands and North show mixed performance. Greater Manchester stands out with relatively efficient processing—averaging 194-224 days depending on property type—and strong approval rates. In contrast, West Yorkshire schemes are taking an average of 361 days to decision, with a higher proportion of applications stuck in pending status relative to approvals.

The South East faces affordability-driven complexity. Counties including Hertfordshire, Oxfordshire, and Surrey show longer average decision times alongside higher refusal rates. In these areas, viability challenges—driven by land values, infrastructure requirements, and affordable housing contributions—appear to be creating planning friction that goes beyond simple capacity issues.

The pattern suggests that while the Planning and Infrastructure Act addresses procedural delays, it does not directly solve the resource constraints that see planning teams stretched thin, nor the viability tensions that make some schemes fundamentally difficult to approve.

Mayoral powers and the funding landscape

The SAHP 2026-2036 introduces a more regionally devolved model for affordable housing investment. Six Mayoral Strategic Authorities—Greater Manchester, West Midlands, North East, West Yorkshire, Liverpool City Region, and South Yorkshire—now have direct influence over how grant funding is allocated within their areas.

This is significant. These regions can now shape tenure mix, prioritise locations, and coordinate infrastructure spending with housing delivery. For developers and registered providers, understanding mayoral priorities becomes essential for securing funding.

Outside these combined authorities, Homes England retains decision-making power but is strengthening its regional teams under a new operating model. The agency expects to support approximately 280,000 new homes over the next five years—with agency-backed completions projected to rise from around 40,000 per year currently to over 80,000 by 2029-30.

The funding itself is substantial. Of the £39 billion programme, £27.3 billion is allocated for England outside London, with at least 60% of homes required to be for Social Rent—a marked shift from previous programmes that allowed greater tenure flexibility. London receives up to £11.7 billion through the Greater London Authority, while the new National Housing Bank will deploy a further £16 billion in development finance.

For market-rate housing, the picture is less clear. The Act's reforms to planning processes should benefit all residential development, but the heavy emphasis on social and affordable housing in government messaging suggests that market schemes may need to demonstrate even stronger infrastructure contributions and community benefits to secure timely approvals.

Can 1.5 million homes be delivered?

The mathematics are challenging. With only 208,600 homes added to England's housing stock in 2024-25—a 6% decline on the previous year—hitting 1.5 million homes by 2029 would require annual completions to exceed 300,000 for multiple consecutive years. The government has acknowledged that delivery will "ramp up in the second half of Labour's term," but the current trajectory makes this target appear optimistic.

REalyse analysis suggests several conditions would need to align:

Planning capacity must expand rapidly. The £48 million announced for recruiting additional planning officers is a start, but the 1,400 new posts targeted represent a modest increase relative to application volumes. Local authorities must also be able to recruit and retain experienced staff—a persistent challenge in competitive labour markets.

Viability must improve in high-cost areas. Grant funding addresses affordable housing economics, but market schemes in the South East and London face compressed margins where land prices, construction costs, and policy requirements leave limited headroom. Reforms to developer contributions—currently under consultation—may help, but implementation will take time.

Infrastructure delivery must keep pace. The Act's provisions for strategic planning are designed to coordinate housing and infrastructure investment. However, water companies, grid connections, and transport providers have their own capacity constraints that planning reform alone cannot resolve.

Build-out rates must accelerate. Even with more consents granted, homes are only delivered when developers build them. Current economic conditions—including interest rates, materials costs, and cautious buyer sentiment—affect how quickly approved schemes progress to completion.

Outlook: reform is necessary but not sufficient

The Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 represents genuine structural reform. The return to strategic planning, the focus on planning committee efficiency, and the streamlined infrastructure consenting regime all address real friction in the system. Combined with £39 billion in affordable housing investment and stronger regional coordination, the policy framework is more coherent than at any point in recent memory.

But policy frameworks do not build homes. The regional disparities evident in planning data—where equivalent schemes face decision timelines varying by 150+ days depending on location—highlight that delivery depends on local capacity, political will, and market conditions as much as national legislation.

For investors, developers, and housing providers, the next 12 months will be critical. The SAHP funding window is now open, mayoral authorities are establishing their priorities, and the practical implementation of planning reforms will begin to show whether streamlined approvals can genuinely accelerate delivery.

The ambition is clear. Whether 1.5 million homes follow remains the test that policy alone cannot pass.