Tactic blocking Britain’s new homes to get the axe
Key Points
- The government launched a six-week consultation on 16 July to extend judicial review reforms to major housing, transport and energy projects
- Proposals include limiting repeated failed legal claims and setting clearer court timetables
- Ministers have made 42 major infrastructure decisions this Parliament, double the previous Government's pace, against a target of 150
- An estimated 392,400 homes have gone up since the Parliament began, against a 1.5 million target
- Separate changes from next week scrap mandatory pre-application consultation for NSIPs, potentially saving industry £1 billion
The government plans to stop repeat legal challenges from delaying thousands of new homes and major infrastructure projects across Britain.
The Ministry of Justice launched a six-week consultation on Thursday (16 July) on extending judicial review reforms beyond Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) to major housing, transport and energy developments, including solar farms, road building and affordable homes.
Respondents have until 27 August to submit their views, according to the Law Gazette.
The proposals target what ministers describe as weak and meritless claims that hold up nationally important projects.
Options on the table include limiting repeated unsuccessful attempts to bring claims and introducing clearer court timetables, while keeping judicial review available as a safeguard for genuine cases.
The government said it has already delivered an estimated 392,400 homes since the start of this parliament to 14 June 2026, more than a quarter of its 1.5 million homes target, and it argues that court delays remain one of the biggest brakes on getting the rest built.
Building on earlier reforms
The consultation extends changes the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 and amended court rules already made for NSIPs.
Those reforms send NSIP cases directly to an oral permission hearing and remove the right of appeal for claims the court deems totally without merit at that stage.
Minister for Courts and Legal Services Sarah Sackman said Britain needs more homes, better transport links and new infrastructure, and that legal challenges lacking merit should not hold back developments that create jobs and drive growth.
“Judicial review will remain a vital safeguard, but it cannot be a vehicle for delay. We want to protect access to justice while getting nationally important projects built faster,” she said.
The consultation will ask whether reforms should focus on major infrastructure projects and other strategically important developments. It will also examine how to target any changes carefully to avoid piling pressure on court resources while maintaining access to justice.
The push forms part of the Government’s pledge to deliver 150 major infrastructure decisions this Parliament. Ministers have made 42 decisions on major infrastructure projects so far, double the previous Parliament’s tally at the same stage.
The reforms follow measures announced in May to introduce a fixed legal challenge window for NSIPs, cutting delays from meritless claims and speeding up delivery of transport, water and energy schemes.
Separate changes coming into force next week will remove mandatory pre-application consultation requirements for NSIPs. The Government says this will cut up to 12 months from the planning process and could save industry £1 billion this Parliament.
Together with earlier revisions to the National Planning Policy Framework, the measures form part of a wider drive to make the planning system faster, more predictable and better able to deliver the homes and infrastructure Britain needs.
