Tall buildings have hugely contributed to London’s sense of place and rightful place as a world-leading financial centre. They have made a defined impact on the London skyline particularly in the period between 2000-2019 when the number of new tall buildings built increased significantly, largely due to a change in planning policy. For the last 10 years the NLA (New London Architecture) has been surveying trends in tall building development (which it defines as those of 20 storeys or above) across London. In this Insight we examine the NLA’s recently published annual survey 2025 and what it means for tall building development in the capital.  

2024 has been a year with a continued focus on the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Planning (‘NSIP’) planning regime by both the predecessor and current government. Reforms to make the regime faster and more effective remain a high political priority given its critical role in delivering infrastructure to support a number of key government objectives. Operational changes identified in the previous government’s various reform programmes and action plans continued to be delivered, with the new Labour government introducing some changes and proposals of its own. This blog highlights some key changes made to the NSIP planning regime delivered in 2024 with thoughts on what to expect in 2025.

Hot on the heels of the NPPF consultation MHCLG has published a working paper on the introduction of ‘brownfield passports’ to encourage development of brownfield urban land in a way that goes beyond the policy support in the NPPF. This short Insight takes a look at this latest proposal and considers whether it offers something new for developers or whether it is a repurposing of existing tools. 

The Supreme Court’s judgment in R(Finch) v Surrey County Council  [2024] UKSC 20 has potentially significant implications on how environmental impacts of major projects are assessed.  The question at the heart of the case was how far ‘downstream’ from a development project the decision-maker has to look when assessing its likely environmental effects.  The answer, according to a slim majority of the Supreme Court, is further than had previously been thought necessary.  However, it’s not panic stations for all EIA development.

As part of the ongoing Government reforms to the consenting process for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (“NSIPs”), PINS has launched its 2024 Pre-Application Prospectus. The Prospectus sits alongside a suite of other newly-published Guidance, which we have discussed in previous Insights, providing updated guidance on the DCO pre-application stage and new guidance on the new Fast-track process. The Prospectus implements expected reforms to the NSIP application process and provides important detail which all promoters should familiarise themselves with. In this Insight we summarise the key changes, which includes a: new tiered Pre-application service and associated costs; new and increased documentation and procedural requirements; Fast-track procedure; and transitional arrangements for projects already in the system.

Details of how the recently confirmed operational reforms to improve the NSIP planning process will work in practice are beginning to emerge. We have previously reported on which of the proposed operational reforms are confirmed, but following publication in April 2024 of various amendment regulations, new National Infrastructure Planning Guidance and PINS' launch of a new online platform, we now have a clearer understanding of the changes and how they will work in practice.