Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to announce a series of planning changes before the budget, aiming to stimulate Britain's sluggish economic growth. The reforms are designed to make it easier for developers to build houses and infrastructure projects, potentially filling about £3bn of the estimated £30bn black hole in public finances.
The package seeks to bolster fragile private sector confidence, which fell to a record low last month according to the Institute of Directors. However, ministers are divided over how radical the changes should be, with some arguing that the latest attempts amount only to technical adjustments of existing policies.
A government source said: 'The Treasury is desperate to make announcements on planning, but the truth is we are already doing most of the stuff we wanted to, and trying to reopen all of that is not a good idea.' Critics, including planning lawyer Alexa Culver, have described the approach as a 'chaotic slew of destructive new bills, with no strategy, vision, due process, consultation or democratic mandate.'
Reeves and Prime Minister Keir Starmer have placed planning reform at the heart of their growth plans, having already launched a bill earlier this year. However, the government faced backlash from developers after watering down the bill, and later tightened rules on environmental mitigations following pressure from Labour MPs.
To strengthen the bill in the Lords, Reeves is considering proposals from Labour peer Philip Hunt to ease building for projects with minimal environmental impact, and from Conservative peer Charles Banner to allow adaptation of approved plans. Other potential changes include restricting judicial reviews against infrastructure projects and preventing judges from quashing approvals during ongoing legal cases.
Officials believe that if the changes pass before the budget, the Office for Budget Responsibility could estimate a long-term economic boost of about £3bn annually. However, some in government warn that pushing for significant changes risks reopening a bruising political fight, potentially making the bill harder to pass.
