Planning reforms have landed with a big splash. The focus of the recent announcement sits squarely on accelerating the planning process to meet ambitious housing targets.
Is this a one-off, or could we take it to expect a broader shift in policy? The government has been vocal about its plans to tackle approval delays head on – a crucial hurdle to overcome in order to meet building targets. Local approvals are the first step, with further reforms sure to follow.
The push for faster local approvals
Planning delays are an age-old pain point for contractors. Local planning applications are in current conversation, but delays are present at every stage of the planning and approval process.
Lengthy approval times often result in costly delays, unanticipated costs. Even lost opportunities.
When local planning permission obtaining government’s proposed reforms aim to cut through bottlenecks in the early stages by reducing bureaucracy, simplifying processes, and centralising decision-making. Provided projects fit certain circumstances, planning committees will see less involvement, with central authorities and regional mayors stepping in to take charge of key decisions.
Faster approvals are a win for contractors. Reduced delays could allow projects to progress more smoothly, decreasing downtime and helping to avoid cost overruns. As fewer decisions are stalled by local politics or extended review periods, we could see a steadier pipeline of work, improving predictability in project scheduling.
Fast-tracking the future?
The intent behind the recent reforms is crystal clear: reduce bureaucracy, speed up decision-making, and tackle the housing crisis head-on. Local planning authorities will take a step back, with a greater role for central authorities, who will, in turn, wield increased powers to fast-track projects deemed to be of critical significance. They promise quicker approvals and a more streamlined process—a necessary shift when building needs are high.
Some in the sector may see this as an overdue move. Delays in the planning process have long been a significant barrier to meeting demand. Spiralling costs and stalled projects are often the norm.
Faster approvals could enable more homes to be built, improve the flow of work, and provide contractors with the certainty they’ve lacked. Placing emphasis on speed has the potential to reduce the time spent in bureaucratic limbo, moving projects away from the drawing board and onto site.
This is true for not just local planning applications. Hurdles wait around every corner of the planning process – once past local planning, building regulation approval must be sought, and these bring their own challenges.
In order to ‘get Britain building again’, plans must also be laid to overcome delays in planning stages.
The implications of speed without substance
There is a risk of adopting a more transactional approach to planning, where the emphasis shifts to approving more projects, as quickly as possible. There’s good reason to believe that the current focus on speed is the hallmark of planning policy to come – and for many in the industry, the long-term impacts could be profound. Quicker approvals could lead to a steadier flow of work for contractors, and the wider construction value chain would feel the ripple effect. Current reforms are a first line of response to the increasing urgency of housing demand, but will this push for faster decision-making persist as the primary objective of future policies?
We should be cautious. Policy driven by speed alone risks running into bottlenecks later in the process – buildings that pass local approval stages faster may still run into delays passing through gateway stages, or even increase the burden on the Building Safety Regulator.
The future of planning reform should look to review the process holistically, to avoid simply shifting the problem further down the line. These later stages are critically vital, but can be time-intensive – to truly begin to solve the issue, new measures must not only bypass blockers, but look to equip all authorities with the necessary resources. We shouldn’t look to just build more, but build better.
A call for thoughtful change
Many industry eyes are on planning processes and regulatory evolution. Current processes are not perfect, and reducing delay times in project approvals has been earmarked by the government as a key priority. Speed is necessary to combat current challenges and meet rising demands.
For the industry, this means advocating for a planning process that balances speed with the commitment to quality, design integrity, and long-term viability we’ve come to expect, and arms it to be able to service both needs. It means engaging necessary parties and authorities to ensure that planning reforms don’t just fast-track project, they fast-track good projects – at every step of the way.
