Chancellor proposes more houses near rail ahead of the Planning and Infrastucture Bill

The Chancellor specifically referred, in her kickstart speech, to using “untapped land near commuter transport hubs"

The Chancellor and Deputy Prime Minister have stepped up their moves to drive economic growth by changes to the planning system with measures set out in a working paper from the Treasury on Streamlining Infrastructure Planning on Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects, ahead of publication of the Planning and Infrastucture Bill.

Issued by the Treasury on behalf of Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Deputy PM Angela Rayner, the Chancellor specifically referred to it in her kickstart speech as supporting new plans for more houses near rail stations by using “untapped land near commuter transport hubs".

This would be achieved, the government says, by ensuring that when developers submit an application for acceptable types of schemes in key areas – such as in high potential locations near such transport hubs - that the default answer to development is ‘yes’.

---

Join expert speakers at Rail Stations + Property 2025 to hear more about rail stations, housing and development

---

This would unlock more housing at a greater density in areas central to local communities, boosting the government’s number one mission to grow the economy

“These measures will transform communities, with more shops and homes nearer to the transport hubs that working people rely on day in day out,” says the Chancellor.

The Chancellor linked this to her championing a regeneration project around Old Trafford in Manchester that “will see new housing, commercial and public space as a shining example of the bold pro-development model that will drive growth across the region, with authorities exploring setting up a mayoral development corporation body to redevelop the area.”

The government was also working with Greater Manchester to release growth-generating land around transport hubs through local development orders, such as around Castleton Station, “with the potential for this innovative use of existing powers to kickstart building in these sites to be a blueprint for the rest of the country so that every corner of the UK benefits from growth,” the Chancellor said.