At the start of May, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government published an impact assessment of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill. But will the Bill deliver on its promises? And what could it mean for businesses and households? We take a closer look at the detail.
What are the Aims of the Bill?
The Planning and Infrastructure Bill is designed to:
- Streamline the consenting process for critical infrastructure to deliver the Clean Power 2030 target.
- Introduce a more strategic approach to nature recovery.
- Improve certainty and decision-making in the planning system.
- Unlock land and secure public value for large-scale investment; and
- Introduce new mechanisms for cross-boundary strategic planning.
Will it deliver?
According to the government’s impact assessment, the Bill is expected to achieve its aims. It estimates there will be a positive impact, or Net Present Social Value (NPSV), for businesses and households of £3.2bn over the ten-year appraisal period. With a potential high range of up to £7.5bn and low range of £1.3bn.
It added that there will also be wider, un-monetised benefits, such as the benefit to society from the quicker delivery of housing and infrastructure, and the macroeconomic contribution of increased development supported by the Bill.
How Might it Boost Growth?
The assessment says much of the economic growth delivered through reforms in the Bill will be achieved by reducing barriers and costs to business (primarily developers) in the planning system.
- The largest monetised direct impact for businesses is a £2.1bn saving from reducing planning delays
- Additional planning cost savings to businesses are estimated at £157mn
- Appeal/dispute cost savings are estimated to be £46mn.
- Indirect benefits to households and businesses include £1.5bn in constraint cost savings and £47mn in emissions savings
The assessment measured these benefits against the direct costs of producing strategic plans for the public sector of £101mn and indirect costs of earlier network investment for businesses of £777mn.
Is it Good for Businesses?
For businesses, the impact looks broadly positive. The report identified a Net Present Business Value (NPBV) of £2.1bn (in 2025 prices with 2026 base year). It estimated that Equivalent Annual Net Direct Cost to Business is -£273mn, with the negative cost indicating this is a positive direct impact to business.
Notably 65%, around £1bn, of the constraint cost savings are expected to come from reforms to Scottish electricity infrastructure consenting. This indirect impact will be somewhat offset by the indirect £777mn cost to businesses of the earlier network investment.
The report indicated that the package of measures will be beneficial for small, micro and medium businesses, noting that smaller businesses are less resourced to deal with delays and the costs of appeal/disputes in the planning system than larger businesses. As a result, reduced delays and costs in the planning system should benefit small businesses who are disproportionately burdened by delays.
Is it Good for Households?
For households, the overall picture is more nuanced. While the overall expected impact is anticipated to be positive, the monetised impact is negative.
It detailed that, as with businesses, there is a direct cost to households in the form of a transfer from households to Local Planning Authorities (LPAs). It stated that the present value of this transfer is £602mn (negative to households, positive to LPAs). The report detailed a share (35%) of the indirect monetised benefit of constraint cost savings delivered by Reforms to Scottish Consenting (~£540mn) is also expected to accrue to households.
In terms of non-monetised impacts to households, the bill discounts for a subset of households located near electricity transmission infrastructure, are expected to have a positive impact on households overall, though many households are expected to pay marginally more.
