What does the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 change?

The Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 makes significant changes to the planning system in England. Key measures include a mandatory 300,000-home annual housing target across local planning authorities, reforms to how infrastructure delivery is funded (replacing Community Infrastructure Levy), strengthened development rights for renewable energy, and streamlined consenting for nationally significant infrastructure projects. Commencement is staged and not all provisions were in force by April 2026.

Is CIL being abolished under the Planning and Infrastructure Act?

The Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 introduces an Infrastructure Levy to replace the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) and, eventually, negotiate-able Section 106 contributions. The transition is phased — local authorities will move to the new Infrastructure Levy system over several years, with CIL continuing in most areas during the transition period. Developers should check the commencement schedule for their local authority before assuming CIL has been replaced.

What are the new housing delivery targets under the Planning and Infrastructure Act?

The Act reinstates a mandatory national housing target of 300,000 new homes per year in England, to be allocated to local planning authorities based on a standard method. Local authorities that fail to maintain a five-year housing land supply face presumption in favour of sustainable development — in practice, this makes it harder for LPAs to refuse speculative planning applications. The target is the same figure the government consulted on in 2024.

What does the Planning and Infrastructure Act mean for green belt development?

The Act introduces the concept of 'grey belt' — lower-quality green belt land, such as former industrial sites and car parks within the green belt designation. Grey belt land is subject to a revised policy position that makes it easier to bring forward for housing development where an LPA cannot demonstrate a five-year land supply. This is not a general relaxation of green belt policy; it is a targeted reclassification of specific land types.

When do the Planning and Infrastructure Act provisions take effect?

Commencement is staged across multiple tranches. Some provisions relating to housing targets and the standard method were brought into effect through the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) revision in late 2024, ahead of the Act itself. Infrastructure Levy provisions require secondary legislation and local authority transition plans — the full transition is expected to take several years. Developers should track the statutory instruments and DLUHC guidance for their specific provisions.

Planning Rules 2026: What Developers Need to Know After the Planning and Infrastructure Act

The Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 is one of the most significant pieces of planning legislation in a generation. It changes how housing targets are set and enforced, how infrastructure delivery is funded, and which land can be brought forward for development. For housebuilders, commercial developers, and anyone with sites in the planning pipeline, understanding what has changed — and what is still staged — is essential.

This article sets out the Act's main provisions, their commencement status, and the practical implications for development appraisals and planning strategy. Note that commencement is staged and you should check the current legislation.gov.uk commencement orders for specific provisions.

Housing targets: mandatory again

One of the most contested elements of the Act is the reinstatement of a mandatory national housing target of 300,000 homes per year in England. Under the previous government, housing targets were effectively made advisory. The current government reversed that position.

The national target is distributed to local planning authorities using a revised standard method, with the allocation weighted towards high-demand areas. Local authorities are required to:

Maintain a five-year housing land supply against their local housing need figure
Update Local Plans to reflect the revised standard method
Apply the presumption in favour of sustainable development (paragraph 11 of the NPPF) where they cannot demonstrate a five-year supply

For developers, the practical effect is that an LPA without a demonstrable five-year supply is now in a weaker position to resist speculative planning applications on suitable sites. This is meaningful for landowners and developers with sites in supply-constrained areas.

Grey belt: what it is and what it means

The Act introduces the concept of "grey belt" — a new category within the green belt designation that captures lower-quality green belt land. The definition covers:

Previously developed land (PDL) within the green belt
Land that contributes little to the purposes of the green belt (as assessed against the five green belt purposes)
Specific parcels formally identified as grey belt in a local authority's Local Plan review

Grey belt land is subject to a "golden rules" policy: development on grey belt must meet affordable housing requirements (50% on most sites), provide access to green space, and not undermine the fundamental aims of the green belt. It is not a free pass for development — it is a reclassification designed to release specific types of under-used land for development.

For landowners with green belt land that might qualify as grey belt, the opportunity is to promote the site through the Local Plan process for formal grey belt designation. Sites already in the planning pipeline near grey belt classifications may see changed prospects.

The Infrastructure Levy: a phased transition from CIL and Section 106

The Community Infrastructure Levy has been controversial since its introduction in 2010. Critics argue it is inconsistently applied, poorly calibrated to viability, and has led to fewer infrastructure obligations being met than the S106 system it partially replaced. The Act introduces an Infrastructure Levy (IL) intended to replace both CIL and negotiable S106 contributions over time. The transition is phased — local authorities move to IL individually as their charging schedules are updated, and CIL continues in most areas during the transition period.

How the Infrastructure Levy differs from CIL

The IL is calculated on gross development value (GDV) rather than floorspace. This means the charge scales with actual sale values rather than a fixed per-m² rate.
The IL is set as a rate above a minimum value threshold — only value above the threshold (which represents the developer's minimum return) is subject to the levy.
Local authorities set their own IL rates within a national framework, as they do with CIL.
The IL is intended to be non-negotiable, removing the time and cost involved in S106 negotiations on most sites.

Transition timetable

CIL does not disappear immediately. The transition to IL is being phased:

Local authorities opt in to the IL framework as their charging schedules are updated
Most LPAs are expected to transition between 2026 and 2030
During transition, existing CIL charging schedules remain in force
Section 106 continues for infrastructure not covered by IL rates

For development appraisals, this means you cannot assume CIL has been replaced in your LPA. Check the commencement status for the specific authority. The impact on residual land value calculations from transitioning to GDV-based charging will vary significantly by scheme type and location — a high-value scheme in London will pay more under IL than under CIL; a lower-margin scheme in the North may pay less.

Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects

The Act also streamlines the Development Consent Order (DCO) process for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs). Key changes include:

Tighter timeframes for examining authorities to reach decisions
Expanded categories of development qualifying as NSIP (including certain renewable energy projects)
A faster pre-application stage with more structured engagement

For developers of large solar, wind, and battery storage projects, the NSIP changes are material. Projects that previously faced years of planning uncertainty may benefit from the streamlined process — though the detail of how the new timeframes work in practice will only become clear as the first post-Act applications progress.

What this means for development appraisals

Four practical changes for appraisal:

Update the CIL/IL line. For schemes with planning expected after your LPA transitions to IL, model the Infrastructure Levy rather than CIL. The GDV-based calculation will produce different figures — in some cases substantially different.
Grey belt sites need a separate analysis. The 50% affordable housing requirement for grey belt schemes is a significant cost line that changes residual land value calculations materially.
Five-year supply position affects planning strategy. In LPAs without a five-year supply, the presumption in favour may make previously unviable sites worth promoting.
Building Safety Levy sits alongside IL. The Building Safety Levy starting October 2026 is a separate charge on residential development. It is not replaced by the Infrastructure Levy — both apply where relevant.

Try this: planning history and comparable sales by postcode

The Homedata Planning Application API returns planning history — applications, decisions, appeal outcomes — at UPRN and polygon level. Combined with the sold price API for GDV benchmarking, it provides the key inputs for a pre-acquisition viability assessment. Get a free API key or see the API docs.