The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has made The Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 (Commencement No. 9) and Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 (Commencement No. 1 and Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2025 (SI 2025/1370). Signed at 2.20 p.m. on 18 December 2025 by the Minister of State, the instrument sets commencement dates across compulsory purchase, National Policy Statements, development corporations and the new Environmental Delivery Plan framework. Most provisions commence either on 19 December 2025 or on 18 February 2026, with a further duty beginning on 1 April 2026.
Compulsory purchase: from 18 February 2026, section 183 of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 introduces conditional confirmation for compulsory purchase orders. Confirming authorities will be able to confirm an order subject to specified conditions that must be met before powers may be exercised. The corresponding Ministerial provisions in section 184 and related consequential amendments in Schedules 18 and 19 are also commenced for the same cohort of orders. These changes apply to CPOs confirmed by a confirming authority other than the Welsh Ministers, or prepared in draft by an acquiring authority other than the Welsh Ministers.
Further CPO changes are phased. The day after the instrument is made, powers to write regulations are commenced for newspaper notice content, expedited general vesting declarations where land is unoccupied or interests are unidentified, advancement of vesting by agreement, and compensation directions linked to section 14A of the Land Compensation Act 1961. Those provisions take substantive effect for England on 18 February 2026, simplifying notice requirements and allowing earlier vesting either unilaterally in defined circumstances or by agreement, while clarifying how compensation can be directed to be assessed in certain parish or community acquisitions.
National Policy Statements: from 18 February 2026, the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 requires a full review and update of each NPS at least every five years and introduces an additional parliamentary process for material policy amendments. The same date also switches on reforms to legal challenges under the Planning Act 2008, adjusting how judicial review of NPSs and Secretary of State development consent decisions is brought. Promoters and objectors to nationally significant infrastructure projects should plan programmes and risk allocations on the basis of more frequent policy maintenance and a reworked challenge route.
Environmental Delivery Plans: the framework is activated the day after the instrument is made so that Natural England can begin preparation. Sections commenced cover the scope of an EDP-area, development type and volume, time period-together with required content on environmental features, likely impacts and conservation measures, and the ability to set charging schedules for a nature restoration levy. Notification of draft preparation, administration and monitoring duties, general duties when exercising EDP functions, and a statutory duty on public authorities to co‑operate with Natural England also begin at this point. Interpretation and regulation‑making powers for the levy are commenced at the same time.
Development corporations: from 18 February 2026, provisions clarify remits and the relationship between different corporation types, standardise duties on sustainable development, climate change and good design across all models, and equalise the list of infrastructure they may provide. Any overlap in proposed areas is resolved in favour of the higher‑tier authority, providing a clearer route to designation and project delivery.
Timing summary: 19 December 2025 starts the regulation‑making powers for CPO process changes and enables Natural England to begin EDP work, including levy regulation preparation. On 18 February 2026 the substantive reforms take effect: conditional CPO confirmation; expedited and agreed GVD routes; NPS review, parliamentary procedure and legal challenge changes; and development corporation provisions. On 1 April 2026, Natural England’s annual reporting duty on the exercise of Part 3 functions begins.
Transitional provisions are tightly drawn. The amendments to the Acquisition of Land Act 1981 relating to conditional confirmation do not apply where the first statutory notice of making, or the first draft preparation notice, was published before 18 February 2026. Separately, the expedited general vesting declaration amendments do not apply to compulsory acquisitions authorised before their commencement. Authorities should therefore audit live cases to determine whether pre‑commencement notices or authorisations keep them on the old regime.
Devolution boundaries are explicit. The conditional confirmation and associated CPO changes apply where the confirming or acquiring authority is other than the Welsh Ministers. The expedited and agreed vesting provisions and the compensation direction changes are commenced for England only. Practitioners operating on cross‑border schemes will need to track which confirming or acquiring authority is in play to determine the operative regime.
For acquiring authorities, the immediate task is to review programme plans. Where possible, plan the publication of CPO notices and confirmation milestones around the 18 February 2026 switch‑on to use conditional confirmation and the new vesting routes. Standard templates for newspaper notices should be revised in anticipation of the streamlined content rules. Case teams should also update engagement and negotiation strategies where earlier vesting by agreement could reduce possession risk.
For NSIP promoters and host authorities, the five‑year NPS review cycle creates a new policy rhythm. Teams should map which draft or designated NPSs may be under review across 2026 and build in time for the additional parliamentary procedure where material changes are proposed. Litigation budgets and timetables should be recalibrated for the revised Planning Act 2008 challenge process that applies from 18 February 2026.
For developers and local planning authorities, the Environmental Delivery Plan regime now moves into preparation. Natural England can scope plans, set out environmental features and conservation measures for defined areas and timeframes, and publish notification of draft work. The nature restoration levy will be set through charging schedules, with the potential for specified environmental obligations to be discharged, disapplied or modified when the levy is paid-scheme viability work should therefore include a levy sensitivity from this point. Public bodies will be under a duty to co‑operate with Natural England during preparation and implementation.
The instrument also confirms an administrative requirement that Natural England must publish an annual report for each financial year on its Part 3 functions, starting 1 April 2026. This creates a reporting spine for EDP governance and performance oversight. Together, the SI’s staggered dates give authorities, promoters and delivery partners a clear window to update templates, retrain case teams and re‑baseline project plans against the new statutory framework.