Burnham to Devolve Major Planning Powers to Regional Mayors in England

Andy Burnham will next week present proposals giving England's devolved mayors sweeping new powers to take control of local planning decisions, including the ability to "call in" applications, direct councils to approve or refuse them, and grant upfront planning permission so developers can begin building without a separate application, according to The Guardian.

The measures will apply to developments exceeding 150 homes, commercial spaces above 15,000 square metres, or any building reaching 30 metres or taller (roughly ten storeys). Ten of England's fourteen devolved mayors, spanning multiple parties, have backed the move. A formal consultation on the proposals will be published next week.

Burnham framed the powers as a "two-way street," noting that mayors could also block projects councils wanted to push forward. He told the Sunday Times he understood the argument that devolving such authority could disempower councillors, MPs, and constituents. The Liberal Democrats were sharper in their critique, with housing and planning spokesperson Gideon Amos calling the move a "direct attack" that would silence residents and strip powers from communities and local councillors.

The intervention targets what the government views as obstruction by "nimby" councils blocking major developments that could boost local growth or contribute to the government's target of building 1.5 million homes by the end of this parliament. That target, recently reaffirmed by Housing Secretary Angela Rayner, remains distant: the government is just over a quarter of the way to reaching it.

Mayoral planning decisions under the new framework must remain in line with existing planning rules, local plans, and national policy. Ministers will retain a backstop power to intervene. The proposals also give mayors more influence over how national housing funding from Homes England is spent in their areas and allow them to charge a levy on development to fund large infrastructure projects.

The powers would bring regional mayors into line with the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, who received similar authority earlier in 2026 as an emergency measure aimed at unblocking stalled sites for affordable homes. The UK government has separately agreed to introduce mayoral development orders to drive housing delivery, though regulations to operationalise them still need to be brought forward.

This planning reform sits within a broader devolution programme that Burnham has built since entering Downing Street, fulfilling a pledge to "transfer power from Westminster to every postcode in the country." Earlier this summer, Burnham unveiled plans allowing devolved mayors to retain a share of income tax generated in their areas from 2028, alongside business rates totalling tens of millions of pounds. The Mayor of the East Midlands is already set to receive a share of income tax as part of this arrangement, with immediate reforms to remove barriers to locally led transport projects and activate new planning powers. Greater Manchester's existing devolved portfolio already covers transport, spatial planning, housing investment, and land acquisition powers, including the ability to create and oversee Mayoral Development Corporations.

The political architecture is distinctive. Burnham's allies have also pushed for public control of water and energy, alongside measures including a one-year freeze on private rents and a cap on bus fares. The creation of "No 10 North" has institutionalised the devolution push within the machinery of government. The cross-party backing for the planning proposals, with ten of fourteen mayors signed on, suggests this is not a narrowly partisan initiative.

The broader context here is a structural tension between delivery and local accountability that has haunted English planning reform for over a decade. The government's housing target is lagging badly, with roughly three-quarters of the 1.5 million homes still unbuilt. Regional mayors, armed with call-in powers and upfront consent mechanisms, could circumvent the local planning bottlenecks that have stalled large sites. But the Liberal Democrat response points to a genuine constitutional question: concentrating planning authority in individual mayors shifts decision-making further from the ward and parish level, and the backstop of ministerial intervention does little to reassure those who see the reforms as executive overreach.

Whether these proposals survive the consultation process with their scope intact, and whether mayors use the powers to accelerate development or to block projects they oppose, will determine whether the devolution of planning authority becomes a credible delivery mechanism or another contested layer of governance. Burnham's own framing, that this is a "two-way street," is an honest acknowledgment that the same powers that can unblock housing can also entrench a different set of vetoes.