Alexander Connington, Emilia McCartney and Alastair Dale at award-winning infrastructure law firm, Pinsent Masons LLP, summarise the key changes introduced by the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 and their potential impact for highways projects.
The Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 (the Act) received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025, but the Act's provisions come into force in a staggered fashion: some provisions take effect on Royal Assent; other provisions come into force in February 2026; and many require commencement orders to bring them into force. This new piece of legislation marks one of the most significant shifts in the UK's development and consenting landscape in recent years.
Nick Harris, chief executive of National Highways, emphasised that the Act ‘will help streamline delivery of the transport infrastructure needed to unlock housing, support economic development, and connect people to opportunities across the country'.
The Act has been purposefully introduced against a backdrop of rising infrastructure demand, persistent delays in project approvals and heightened expectations around environmental performance. In our October 2025 column, readers will recall that Pinsent Masons' partner, parliamentary agent and head of infrastructure planning and government affairs, Robbie Owen, considered the potential impact of streamlining the infrastructure planning process for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects ("NSIPS").
The Act represents a deliberate effort by the Government to accelerate delivery of major infrastructure projects, from streamlining the Development Consent Order ("DCO") process, to introducing new powers under the Highways Act 1980, the changes introduced by the Act have moved consenting onto a more predictable footing, with clearer roles, firmer timelines and a premium on early, well evidenced proposals.
A system under strain
Before the Act took effect, the consenting landscape for highways was widely regarded as slow and fragmented. Schemes of all scales were held back by lengthy pre application work, rigid consultation requirements and uncertain examination and decision timelines. The divide between the DCO regime and older Highways Act procedures added further complexity, forcing promoters through processes that had not kept pace with modern infrastructure needs. At the same time, rising environmental expectations, limited early land access powers and the risk of judicial review created additional cost and uncertainty. Taken together, it was clear the system no longer reflected the scale or urgency of the UK's transport ambitions - setting the stage for reform.
So what has changed? The direction of travel is clear: simpler processes, clearer accountability and a more strategic approach to environmental and land related obligations.
Reform of infrastructure consenting
A central focus of the Act is the overhaul of the NSIP regime. NSIPs must secure a DCO from government ministers, following a rigorous process overseen by the Planning Inspectorate (PINS). This process is distinct from local planning and is governed by National Policy Statements (NPSs) specific to each infrastructure sector.
Specific NPSs are produced for particular categories of NSIPs. The Government has concluded that these NPSs must be reviewed and refreshed more frequently to ensure they continue to reflect current policy and priorities. The Act introduces measures to support this, requiring the Secretary of State to update an NPS whenever they consider it appropriate. In addition, each NPS must undergo a full review at least once every five years. Ultimately, the Act is making it quicker and easier to deliver NSIPs by ensuring NPSs stay current and by reducing opportunities for legal challenges.
Further, the Act introduces a faster and more predictable consenting process, recognising that delays to critical infrastructure, including roads, have historically constrained economic growth and affected the delivery of infrastructure.
One of the most significant changes is the removal of the statutory pre-application consultation requirements for NSIPs. Previously, applicants were legally required to consult landowners, local authorities and affected communities before submitting development consent applications. Under the new regime, these duties are replaced with best practice guidance (expected to be introduced by the secretary of state in early 2026), enabling proportionate and targeted engagement. Statutory notification and publicity obligations remain, ensuring transparency even as the administrative burden reduces.
For highways authorities and promoters of major road schemes, this is expected to reduce front loaded administrative burdens and shorten project preparation timelines. However, applicants must still notify certain bodies, including local authorities, which ensures essential transparency is maintained.
Amendments to the Highways Act 1980:
Modernising powers and procedures
Additionally, the Act introduces a series of targeted amendments to the Highways Act, which affect how highways infrastructure is delivered. These include: revised fee charging powers that allow authorities to charge fees for certain services under the Highways Act, and thus recover costs more effectively; and expanded powers for strategic highways companies (such as National Highways) in relation to trunk roads, which will help streamline how major road schemes are managed by giving the main delivery body of these schemes stronger and more explicit legal powers to act. Further, the amendments provide new statutory deadlines for consultation and decision making on certain orders and schemes. This aims to accelerate highways consenting and reduce delays.
Collectively, these changes are expected to give project promoters greater certainty over both delivery timelines and land assembly, historically two of the most significant sources of delay and risk for highways projects. By streamlining procedures and clarifying powers, the reforms aim to create a more predictable and efficient consenting environment.
Land access, compulsory purchase and temporary possession
Another significant change is that authorities can now take temporary occupation of land for construction activities such as works compounds, material storage, surveys and temporary diversions. This is significant as, previously, highway authorities often had to buy land permanently even where they only needed it temporarily. This amendment brings the Highways Act into alignment with the DCO regime and ensures promoters of road widening, junction improvements and bypass schemes have the same flexible toolkit available for land access, as energy and rail promoters.
These provisions should reduce the need for full freehold acquisition where only short term access is required, minimise disputes over temporary works and improve delivery sequencing on complex multi phase highways projects.
What this means for the industry
In practical terms, the Act's reforms should shorten programme timelines, reduce uncertainty around examinations and decision making, and offer greater flexibility in bringing schemes forward, particularly where early land access and temporary occupation were previously sticking points. Promoters can expect a more predictable consenting environment, with clearer process expectations and a stronger link between national policy and project level scrutiny.
At the same time, the industry will need to adapt quickly. The new procedures, firmer statutory deadlines, and expanded powers for strategic highways companies will demand more disciplined preparation, better structured evidence and earlier co-ordination between promoters, consultants and local authorities. Greater transparency in process and decision making also means that roads authorities and contractors should expect closer attention to the robustness of their assessments, engagement approaches, and delivery plans as the new system beds in.
Overall, the Act signals a system that is moving toward greater efficiency and accountability, but also one in which early preparation, robust evidence, and disciplined project management will be more important than ever. For those ready to adapt, the reforms offer genuine opportunities to accelerate the delivery of road and highway improvements across the UK.
