10.03.2026
New legislation enabling the Secretary of State to be notified when local authorities intend to refuse planning applications for major housing developments of 150 homes or more is expected to come into force later this month.
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The measure forms part of the Government’s wider efforts to accelerate housing delivery and ensure that strategically important housing proposals are given appropriate consideration at a national level.
The Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) (Amendment and Transitional Provision) Order 2026 will amend the existing Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015. Once implemented, the change will allow the Secretary of State to require local planning authorities to notify central government when they are proposing to refuse planning permission for developments of 150 homes or more.
This would give the Secretary of State the opportunity to consider whether the application should be “called in” for determination at national level.
When the policy was first announced in November, Housing Secretary Steve Reed stated that the Government intends to take a more active role in supporting housing delivery where proposals are considered strategically important.
The new approach will be implemented through a consultation direction, supported by changes to legislation and a revised call-in and recovery policy.
Consultation directions are already an established feature of the planning system. At present, they are commonly used to require local authorities to notify the Secretary of State before granting planning permission for certain developments that depart from the development plan. The forthcoming change will extend this principle to planned refusals of large-scale housing schemes.
According to the explanatory memorandum accompanying the statutory instrument, the amendments are necessary to ensure that the requirement for local planning authorities to consult the Secretary of State in these circumstances can be properly implemented.
The legislation is scheduled to come into force on 26 March 2026.
Alongside this change, a separate statutory instrument will introduce further provisions from the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 relating to the role of urban development corporations.
The Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 (Commencement No.10) Regulations 2026 will bring into force sections of the Act that allow development corporations to take on expanded planning powers.
Under the new provisions, the Secretary of State will be able to designate urban development corporations and new town development corporations as the local planning authority for their area for the purposes of:
Local plan preparation
Neighbourhood planning oversight
Development management functions in certain circumstances
The reforms are intended to align the powers of these organisations with the mayoral development corporation model, enabling them to play a more direct role in planning and delivering large-scale development and regeneration projects.
The legislation also introduces financial provisions governing borrowing by development corporations from HM Treasury.
These changes highlight the Government’s continued focus on increasing housing delivery and strengthening central oversight of major development proposals. The new notification requirement for refusals of large housing schemes could result in greater scrutiny of local authority decision-making where significant housing proposals are concerned.
DHA Planning will continue to monitor the implementation of these legislative changes and provide further updates on how they may affect planning decision-making and development opportunities across England.
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