The Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 has received royal assent on the 18th December 2025 marking a significant change to national planning policy.
The act intends to fulfil labour’s optimistic government manifesto and reshape the housebuilding industry as well as fulfil major infrastructure projects nationwide by streamlining the process of how development is planned, approved and challenged.
Key changes in UK Planning Policy and Infrastructure Development
One of the most significant changes for nationally significant infrastructure projects is the overhauling of the pre-application consultation requirements. Developers will instead need to refer to the new best practice guidance (expected to be issued in early 2026) in the pre-application stage. The government is hopeful that this will speed up national infrastructure projects.
The Act introduces the Environmental Delivery Plan (EDP) and a nature restoration fund which are intended to enable developers to start construction sooner while financing habitat restoration and tackling the sources of river pollution.
Housebuilding developers will be given additional powers to help the government accelerate their large-scale projects (including the introduction of up to 12 new towns) throughout England. The central thrust will also be to provide more affordable homes and access to public transport with a proposal to build homes near public transport hubs.
The act will allow non water sector companies to build reservoirs which will automatically be treated as nationally significant infrastructure projects. The Water Minister Emma Hardy has recently noted that no new reservoirs have been constructed in 30 years.
The act promises to modernise the planning committee procedure allowing local committees to concentrate on significant development (i.e. the creation of new homes to meet the government’s 1.5 million homes target). One such way is the granting of authority to councils to set their own planning fees to accurately and proportionately cover the cost of determining major developments.
The legal challenge provisions are set to be “tightened” but note this is only for certain government decisions on nationally significant infrastructure projects. The intention is to limit the number of attempts at judicial review to only one attempt allowed in cases deemed by the planning court as “totally without merit”.
Final thoughts and next steps for Developers
It is still unknown practically whether the act will deliver on what it has promised, particularly in relation to the shortening of time to deliver major infrastructure projects. The Environmental Delivery Plans have also been criticised by opponents, with some suggesting that it enables developers to pay their way to build without undertaking detailed environmental surveys.
We at Herrington Carmichael can help you with legal advice on development and construction matters and guide you through the changes introduced by the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025. Please contact us and a member of our team will assist you with your legal queries.
