UK Planning and Infrastructure Act accelerates housing and clean energy

The UK Government has announced that the landmark Planning and Infrastructure Bill has received Royal Assent, becoming the Planning and Infrastructure Act to speed up delivery of housing and critical infrastructure while supporting clean energy and environmental restoration.

• Key measures include a Nature Restoration Fund, faster approvals for reservoirs, a shift to “first ready, first connected” grid connections for clean power, EV charger approval simplification, and electricity bill discounts of up to £2,500 over 10 years for communities within 500m of new pylons; the Act underpins plans to build 1.5 million homes, make 150 major infrastructure decisions, and is projected to inject up to £7.5 billion into the UK economy over the next decade.
• The Act also enables non-water sector reservoir development, spatial development strategies, limits repeated legal challenges on major projects, modernises planning committees, expands development corporation powers for new towns and affordable homes, and supports long-term water investment (£104 billion secured for the water sector), alongside existing private energy infrastructure plans such as ScottishPower’s £24 billion investment in upgrading electricity infrastructure.