Planning Reform Fails to Inspire Confidence Among Landlords – Landbay

04 September 2025

Fewer than a quarter of the UK’s landlords feel planning reform will positively impact their business.

According to polling undertaken by specialist buy-to-let (BTL) lender Landbay, more than three-quarters of property investors (77 per cent) think planning reforms will not affect their BTL businesses in a positive way.

Only one in eight landlords (13 per cent) think the easing of planning rules could create more opportunities to purchase new-build properties.

And just one in every eleven landlords (9 per cent) think that planning reforms could lead to more jobs and economic growth – that demand for rental accommodation could rise, boosting occupancy rates.

Rob Stanton, sales and distribution director at Landbay, said:

“If property investors are not convinced planning reform will positively affect their business, we’re in real trouble. Landlords are an important stakeholder in the planning system and the wider housing market, driving the conversion of properties to HMOs, refits and extensions – not to mention a chunk of new-build housing. So this level of scepticism and cynicism surrounding proposed reforms to our planning system is absolutely damning.

“As a country we clearly need planning reform. The Lower Thames Crossing has cost more than a quarter of a billion pounds just in planning and paperwork – not a single spade in the ground. It has cost us more to plan the crossing than it cost Norway to construct the world’s longest tunnel. HS2 is now the world’s most expensive railway line. The planning application to reopen the old 3-mile Portishead railway line is 80,000 pages long – with over 1,000 pages dedicated to bats.”

When asked if they thought planning reform could help solve the housing crisis, nearly half (47 per cent) said that planning reform alone will not solve the housing crisis, citing factors such as the ongoing skills shortage in the construction sector – which hinders building at the requisite pace.

Speaking on planning reform and the wider property market, one landlord said housebuilding targets were “impossible to achieve with current level of skills available; I own and operate a development company and construction company. The shortage of trades is very limiting.” Another said targets were “unrealistic while insufficient skills are available” and another said, “the government has been setting new homes targets for years – nothing ever changes.”