In these monthly updates, Rebecca Mushing brings together essential news, trends, and insights from the world of planning and development.
This month’s edition focuses on consultations, further NPPF revisions expected later this year, and the spending review.
June 2025 planning and development roundup:
Consultations
Consultation launched for:
- Speeding up build-out rates – amongst other things, the Government is exploring whether to give Councils the power to refuse to determine planning applications of more than 50 homes submitted by slow-building developers and fining developers who are slow to build permitted homes. The proposals also require developers to produce build-out statements to submit with applications followed by a commencement notice and annual tracking reports. CPO powers may also be used by Councils in compelling cases where sites have stalled.
- Planning committee reforms – these reforms include limiting membership of committees to 11. The Government have also announced a proposal to reduce the threshold at which a Council can be eligible for special measures from 10% or more of its major or non-major applications overturned at appeal to 5%.
- Development thresholds - revising the minor (typically 10 units and under) and major (typically more than 10) categories to allow a more graduated approach that responds to the needs of different sizes of sites. This involves creating a medium threshold for development with streamlined requirements and lifting disproportion requirements for smaller sites.
- BNG for NSIPs - looking how the requirements will apply to NSIPs including a delay to the implementation to May 2026.
- BNG - the Government are looking to ease requirements for smaller sites introducing two new thresholds. Smaller sites of 1-9 units will be exempt from the BNG requirements. A medium threshold of 10-49 homes to benefit from simplified rules. The aim of the new thresholds is to reduce the administrative and financial burdens on the small to medium developers.
- Results of the consultation on remote attendance and proxy voting by Councillors for planning committee and other Council meetings has been published. The proposal is described by Jim McMahon, the Local Government and English Devolution Minster, as helping to ensure local government is “modern, efficient, flexible and diverse”. Therefore, Government will legislate to allow remote attendance and proxy voting.
Other news
- Matthew Pennycook has confirmed “there is more to come” as he has advised the major planks of planning reform would be in place by the end of the year. This appears evident in the latest consultations issued and promise of a revised NPPF by the end of the year.
- Permitted development rights have been relaxed for EV charging ports and air source heat pumps to make it easier for them to be installed.
- A private members bill has been introduced to Parliament to require planning permission for change of use of a residential dwelling to short term lets. This is a matter that has been, at present, interpreted differently by different councils. The Bill is due its second reading on 4th July 2025.
- In the Chancellor’s spending review, it was announced:
- £39bn for a ten year affordable housing programme
- A further £2.5bn for East-West Rail to support housing development between Oxford and Cambridge. In addition to £240m to enhance Leeds station to improve capacity
- A further £3.5bn for the TransPennine upgrade
- Funding to progress the next stage of the Midlands Rail Hub West to strengthen connections from Birmingham to the West Midlands and other regions
- £14.2bn for Sizewell C nuclear plan in Suffolk - Neighbourhood plans – no new neighbourhood planning support services will be offered, however Matthew Pennycook stated the plans still play an important role and can still be prepared by neighbourhoods. This may more greatly affect the less affluent areas of the country.
- Appeals - the Planning Inspectorate announced a more simplified planning appeals process will apply to most planning appeals which are decided via written representations. The scope of written representations will be expanded and the documents which an appellant should submit with their appeal will be limited to make the process more streamlined.
- AI – has been put forward as a revolutionary tool in planning. The Prime Minister is suggesting it would power new types of planning software to slash 250k hours spent by planning officers manually checking documents. This tech is expected to be available in Spring next year. Is AI the answer to the delays in our planning system? Some are warning local authorities to be wise to objectors using AI to produce their objections which can include misquoted or non-existent case law.
If you have any question's about this month's roundup, our Planning team will be delighted to help - please don't hesitate to get in touch.
