The government has already pledged major reforms to planning rules and processes, to enable speedier development of major infrastructure and housing and prevent projects from being unduly delayed by legal challenges. Among other things, it is intent on bringing a new Planning and Infrastructure Bill before parliament in the spring.
Planning law expert Iain Gilbey of Pinsent Masons, who specialises in residential development, welcomed the government’s focus on delivering growth but said significant public funding will be needed if it is to achieve its housing targets.
“The growing head of steam around the clear political messaging on growth and planning and regulatory reform is to be welcomed,” Gilbey said. “However, translating that messaging and proposed reform into actual delivery is a significantly greater challenge.”
“For the government to meet its strategic objective of delivering 1.5 million new homes in this parliamentary term would require a delivery rate of around 800 homes a day. We have not seen that level of housebuilding since the post-war period of the 1950s. The combined effects of higher interest rates and relative illiquidity in the lending markets, an ageing and diminishing construction workforce, supply chain pressures and the cost of raw materials, compound the challenge. Without very significant fiscal and funding interventions in housing delivery, with a much greater role for local authorities and registered providers, the objective will simply not be met,” he said.
The Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor plans include measures previously announced by the government, including funding for East-West Rail and A-road improvements; as well as the priority building of a new cancer hospital in Cambridge, on which Cambridge University, Addenbrookes Hospital and Cancer Research UK are partnering. The government also previously confirmed that its first ‘AI growth zone’ will be in Culham, Oxfordshire. Reeves said new housing will be provided for in the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor to support demand from people to live, work and study in the area. She said the corridor has the potential to be Europe’s answer to Silicon Valley.
In a statement to MPs, transport secretary Heidi Alexander said airport capacity constraints are “hindering the country’s ability to reap the growth benefits of aviation”, particularly in in the south east of England. Alexander is expected to make decisions soon on expansion plans at Gatwick and Luton airports, while Reeves said the government would work with local authorities in Yorkshire to consider how Doncaster Sheffield airport might be reopened for business – it closed in 2022.
Amidst some opposition to airport expansion – including from members of her own party – on environmental grounds, Reeves said that the government would ensure a third runway at Heathrow would be delivered in line with the government’s legal, environmental and climate objectives.
In her speech, Reeves also flagged increased investment in new water infrastructure, following the outcome of Ofwat’s 2024 price review, and how the National Wealth Fund, which the Labour government established last year, will deliver targeted regional investment for city regions, including Glasgow and the West Midlands.
Other initiatives the government is pursuing to drive growth which Reeves referenced in her speech include regulatory reforms and international trade agreements.
Public policy expert Andrew Henderson of Pinsent Masons said: “The chancellor’s speech highlighted ambitious supply side reforms to facilitate investment and unlock economic growth, which will be welcomed by businesses. However, many of the changes are longer-term, and are predicated upon reforms being translated into legislation through the forthcoming Planning and Infrastructure Bill. This may inhibit the UK government’s ability to deliver economic growth in the short-term, which Labour is already being judged upon.”