The UK government has committed to building major infrastructure projects over the next five years – to make that happen, it has pledged to fast track planning decisions.
In her Budget speech, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said building new infrastructure is vital for productivity and various investments will be made to “get Britain building again”.
The Budget confirmed that the government investment in housing will increase to £5bn for next year, with the aim to build 1.5 million homes over the next five years. The Budget also committed to investing £100bn to bolster infrastructure, development and essential public services.
However, delivering infrastructure projects in the UK has been notoriously wrought with challenges – one of the biggest being the time it takes to secure planning permission, which could take more than four years.
This means that major infrastructure projects – from gigafactories and solar farms to roads and railway lines – struggle to get past the planning stages and be...