The Government hopes the Act will remove blockages and delays in the planning system, accelerating the construction of tens of thousands of new homes across every region.

According to Ministers the significant pro-growth changes will see up to £7.5 billion injected into the UK economy over the next decade.

Some of the changes in the Act include:      

• New Nature Restoration Fund will allow developers to get spades in the ground faster for multiple housing and infrastructure projects, with Natural England putting in place pro-nature measures at scale to restore natural habitats and wildlife.    
• Limiting the number of attempts at legal challenge against government decisions on major infrastructure projects, with only one attempt rather than three for cases deemed by the court as totally without merit.      
• Modernising planning committees to focus on the most significant developments rather than smaller projects, speeding up local decisions on new homes.      
• Extra powers for development corporations to speed up delivery of large-scale projects, including the next generation of new towns, with more affordable homes and public transport.        
• Simplifying the approval process for new EV chargers on public roads to save time and costs while supporting clean power.       
• Enabling electricity bill discounts of up to £2,500 over 10 years for communities hosting new pylons and transmission infrastructure.     
• Making it easier to acquire land for new homes, GP surgeries, and schools.       

To support the announcement, also on the 18 December 2025, the Government published an implementation plan setting out how the Nature Restoration Fund will work in practice and the timelines for the first Environmental Delivery Plans.  The new Act aims to support the UK government’s plans to deliver 1.5 million new homes. 

With the update to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) also published recently.  CIHT will be responding to the Government’s consultation on proposed changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPFF). Please email technical@ciht.org.uk if you would like to contribute to the CIHT’s response to this consultation. 

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