National Chartered Surveyor Welcomes Transformative Reforms to Get Britain Building

A leading figure from national chartered surveyor, Bruton Knowles has welcomed the Government’s newly introduced Planning and Infrastructure Bill which promises the “biggest building boom in a generation”.

Brought to Parliament on March 11th, reforms to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill aim to accelerate planning decisions, enhance housebuilding, and eliminate unnecessary obstacles to the delivery of essential developments. The Government hopes that speeding up the planning process will boost housebuilding and, working alongside wider planning reforms such as the new National Planning Policy Framework, will tackle the current housing crisis.

The introduction follows Labour’s 2024 manifesto pledge to build 1.5 million new homes before the next General Election. This was recently underscored in the Spring Budget announcement with the government pledging £2bn to build 18,000 new homes in England in an effort to boost social housing. However, according to recent reports, the UK has been struggling to keep up with the ambitious target, as planning rules and delays present significant barriers, and construction activity drops to its lowest level since the pandemic.[1]

William Matthews, Agency Faculty Head at Bruton Knowles comments: “The government’s renewed focus on housing targets is welcome, particularly in regions like the South-West, where the need for housing is acute. Mandatory targets and associated planning reforms will help create a clearer path for delivering much-needed homes, but the challenge will be in translating these policies into action. Local authorities will need to quickly revise plans, allocate new sites, and overcome barriers such as construction costs, and planning resource constraints.”

Proposals to streamline planning decision-making could be helpful and the working paper indicates an intention to introduce a national scheme of delegation with a new structure, setting out which applications should be handled by planning officers, and which should be referred to the committee, with more focused planning committees and compulsory training for committee members.

Broader challenges remain, however, as William explains: “The planning changes are very positive but meeting these ambitious housing targets will require more infrastructure investment, market confidence, and solutions to address viability and rising construction costs are essential for sustained delivery.”

As changes are implemented, Bruton Knowles is committed to supporting local authorities, developers, and landowners.

In light of this, the firm recently made the strategic move to promote William to the position of Agency Faculty Head to ensure the continued delivery of high-quality, specialist services to its national client base and guarantee its teams remain aligned with the latest market developments and regulatory changes, while continuing to deliver industry-leading services.

In his new role, he will oversee acquisitions and disposal, the development of technical expertise, regulatory compliance, and skill-based training across the firm’s national hub network. His leadership will be instrumental in enhancing Bruton Knowles’ market intelligence and operational efficiency, ensuring the firm remains at the forefront of industry developments and client service excellence.

Bruton Knowles is one of the most well-known chartered surveyor brands in the UK, whose specialist surveyors have extensive expertise and in-depth market knowledge of both local and national property markets across the country.

Its National Teams – Valuation, Commercial, Utilities & Infrastructure – are underpinned by the Building Consultancy, Land Development, and Rural Services Teams, offering clients a single point of contact for the delivery of an entire client project to the highest possible standards.

[1] Rayner’s 1.5m homes target under fresh pressure as construction activity plunges to lowest level since pandemic | The Independent