Treasury urges environmental and health and safety regulators to cut red tape that blocks new housing and infrastructure

Officials cited environmental and planning regulation as areas where regulations were “most complex”, making life difficult for businesses.

Consequently, the Environment Agency will launch a priority service to allow developers to work with a dedicated team on their permits and track progress.

Before Easter, the government will consult on reforms to permitting legislation that will enable regulators to be “more agile in making sensible decisions on which low-risk activities should be exempt from environmental permits”.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has committed to reform the system of statutory consultees, to make clear that they should be “focused on growth” and that local planning authorities should only consult statutory consultees where “really necessary”.

Natural England has been asked to deliver a “proactive engagement with major housebuilding programmes” through enhanced pre-application advice and greater use of strategic solutions.

It has also been asked to maximise its strategic approach through reform, where the current legislative framework could be streamlined. For example, it cited nutrient pollution alongside newt and bat licensing.

This could be achieved through delivering Local Nature Recovery Strategies and the Nature Restoration Fund, included in the government’s recently published Planning and Infrastructure Bill.

The government added that it will “rapidly review and rewrite” the catalogue of environmental compliance guidance to remove duplication, ambiguity and inconsistency.

“This will include Natural England revising their standing advice to local planning authorities on bats and removing the reference to the Bat Conservation Trust,” it said.

For the HSE, the Treasury said it would reform health and safety regulation, including on work equipment and bringing chemical products to the British market.

The HSE will also consult on potential changes to the definitions, occupational diseases and dangerous occurrences under the Reporting Of Injuries regulations.

In January, Rachel Reeves, the chancellor of the exchequer, responded to concerns about how a drive to cut red tape will affect building safety.

She said the government “will not renege” on commitments it had made to the bereaved and survivors of the Grenfell fire as it sought to “get the balance right on regulation”.

On the changes, Ms Reeves said: “The world is changing and that’s why we must go further and faster to deliver on our Plan for Change to kick-start economic growth.

“We are taking further action to free businesses from the shackles of regulation. By cutting red tape and creating a more effective system, we will boost investment, create jobs and put more money into working people’s pockets.”

Marian Spain, chief executive of Natural England, said: “Housing and nature are not competing interests. Sustainable development and nature recovery must go hand in hand, but the current planning system is not working.

“We are working with the government to ensure their ambition to grow nature and grow the economy for the benefit of everybody. This includes ensuring guidance is fit for purpose and moving toward better strategic planning to secure environmental improvements while development takes place.”

An Environment Agency spokesperson said: “We welcome the opportunity to work with government to develop a stronger, clearer and more effective regulatory system. This will underpin our mission to protect the environment and support sustainable development.

“We recognise the vital importance of the government’s ambitious home building target and have an action plan to support this, including responding to 95% of planning applications within 21 days from September 2025.”

Inside Housing approached the Building Safety Regulator for comment.