Changes to the environmental permitting system will reduce waiting times for permits – getting businesses building, delivering much-needed new housing and infrastructure, and unlocking economic growth, Environment Minister Emma Hardy has announced today.

Announcing the changes, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs said there has been strong support for proposals for a more proportionate and common-sense attitude to environmental permits. This will help to speed up construction of new housing and key infrastructure in England by cutting red tape and removing early holdups for builders, and support wider government action to cut administrative costs for businesses.

The Environment Agency will be empowered to consider which activities should be exempt from requiring an environmental permit, making the permitting regime quicker, more flexible and proportionate for low-risk activities, and helping to get the country building new homes and energy facilities.

Low-risk activities to be exempt from permit application process

Currently, certain activities which are vital for the early stages of construction projects – such as site investigation works, the storage of waste materials and drainage operations – are required to acquire environmental permits before they can begin, even though many of these activities pose only minimal risk. This holds up new developments at the very start.

As part of the Government’s Plan for Change, new changes to the permitting system now mean that spades can get in the ground far more quickly, as the low-risk activities will be exempted from the permit application process, subject to appropriate controls. Builders could be saved up to 16 weeks of waiting by moving forward with projects, conducting site investigations and installing drainage channels, rather than being held up by a permit approval.

This means that many projects – such as solar and onshore windfarms – that do not require ongoing operational permits, will be able to be constructed without the need for any environmental permits where the right conditions apply.

For example, an onshore wind farm that might currently require a permit covering multiple activities such as channelling and discharge of uncontaminated water (e.g. rainwater), storage of inert waste materials, preparing platforms for cranes and the installation of temporary floodwater barriers, may not require any permit at all if it meets the appropriate controls and conditions needed to uphold environmental protections.

Some low-risk temporary activities undertaken by individuals and SMEs (e.g. certain flood risk activities on farms) will also no longer require a permit, where appropriate conditions are met. This could save £360 based on the average permit cost, and reduce delays caused by waiting for permits to be issued.

Safeguards to be in place to ensure decisions do not come at expense of environment

However, the announcement says there will be safeguards in place to ensure that decisions do not come at the expense of the environment. The objectives already in the regulations will still apply, so exemptions will include appropriate controls and conditions needed to uphold environmental protections. The Environment Agency will be required to consult on any proposed exemptions, based on transparent assessments of risk.

The announcement delivers on a key recommendation from the Corry review of Defra’s regulatory landscape to empower regulators to make sensible, risk-based decisions. It will help the Government to meet its target of building 1.5 million new homes, along with the infrastructure to support them.

Environment Minister Emma Hardy said:

“We are committed to ensuring that environmental regulation works for everyone – protecting our towns and countryside from harm and delivering sustainable development.

“As part of the Plan for Change, a common-sense approach to environmental permitting in England will boost economic growth and unleash an era of building, while also keeping people and the environment safe.”

As the regulatory agency for environmental permitting, the Environment Agency will be responsible for determining the use of these exemptions in a targeted manner to support construction projects in England.

The Environment Agency’s Chief Regulator, Jo Nettleton, commented:

“Protecting the environment and sustainable development can and must go hand-in-hand. We welcome the Government’s efforts to drive economic growth through a more proportionate permitting regime.

“We have engaged closely with the consultation on reforms to environmental permitting, and look forward to continuing our work as a fair and proportionate regulator for people and the environment while supporting business and sustainable economic growth.

Legislation will be brought forward as soon as parliamentary time allows.

In Wales, the Welsh Government supports the need for implementing these changes but, due to the regulations potentially having to be laid in or after the pre-election period, will not take a decision until after the Senedd elections in May 2026.

The powers will only be available for classes that can already include exempt facilities as defined by regulation 5 of the regulations (currently flood risk activities, waste operations, water discharges, and groundwater activities, and, following planned changes in England only, waste controlling and transporting activities). They will not affect the arrangements in place for any of the other regimes.