UK Construction and Law
Mayors outside London are to get call in powers over applications of more than 150 homes
By Staff Writer | 31 August 2026
A consultation opened on 24 August on the planning powers given to mayors of strategic authorities by the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026. It proposes call in and direct refusal over applications of potential strategic importance, Mayoral Development Orders and a Mayoral Community Infrastructure Levy. Responses close at 23:59 on 5 October.
For twenty five years the Mayor of London has been able to take a large planning application out of a borough's hands. No mayor anywhere else in England has had that power. The consultation published on 24 August sets out how the government proposes to give it to them, and it tells developers outside London that a second decision maker is about to appear above the local planning authority.
The powers come from the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 and reach mayors of strategic authorities, meaning the Greater London Authority, combined authorities and combined county authorities. Four things are in scope: applications of potential strategic importance, Mayoral Development Orders, a Mayoral Community Infrastructure Levy outside London, and changes to the secondary legislation governing Local Development Orders.
The thresholds that would bring a scheme within reach
The proposed categories are modelled on the schedule to the Mayor of London Order. Three would apply from the first day, before a mayor has adopted a Spatial Development Strategy: development of more than 150 homes, more than 15,000 square metres of non-residential or mixed use floorspace, and building height, meaning a building over 30 metres or an increase of 15 metres that takes a building over 30 metres.
A second group would become available only once a Spatial Development Strategy is adopted. It covers mining operations on a site area of 10 hectares, waste development occupying a hectare or handling more than 5,000 tonnes of hazardous waste or 50,000 tonnes of waste a year, transport infrastructure including railway and tram stations and 4 hectares of storage and distribution, and a new energy category with no London equivalent: solar between 50 and 100MW, onshore wind of 50 to 100MW, standalone battery storage of 100MW or more, and electricity network projects.
A third group would carry direct refusal only. It reaches the loss of 200 homes, development that would prejudice residential use on a site of 4 hectares or more, the loss of 2 hectares of playing fields, a building of 1,000 square metres of floorspace in the Green Belt, and 2,500 square metres of certain commercial uses that do not accord with the development plan.
By early next year, we want the powers that will enable mayors to call in applications of potential strategic importance and to make Mayoral Development Orders to be in place. In using these powers, we expect mayors to work in close partnership with local planning authorities in their areas to deliver the housing, infrastructure and good growth that local communities need and deserve.
Matthew Pennycook, Minister of State for Housing and Planning
A levy, and orders that grant permission before anyone applies
A Mayoral Community Infrastructure Levy would let a mayor charge on new development across the area and spend the proceeds on strategic infrastructure. London has had one since 2012 and the consultation records its part in funding the Elizabeth line. The document asks what conditions should attach to becoming a mayoral charging authority and how the money should be collected and spent outside London.
A Mayoral Development Order grants permission upfront, without waiting for anyone to apply. The government proposes that the procedure for making, revising and revoking one should largely follow the procedure already used for Local Development Orders. Those orders are themselves to change: the restriction on using them where a listed building would be affected would go, a new restriction would stop them being used for minerals development, and the requirement to keep the documents at the authority's principal offices would be replaced by a choice of location.
What to watch
One question in the consultation matters more than its length suggests. Category 3J was added to the London order on 11 May 2026 and allows the mayor to call in a scheme of 50 or more homes where the borough is minded to refuse, under a shortened procedure. The government asks whether mayors elsewhere should have it, and whether they should have it before a Spatial Development Strategy is adopted. If they do, the practical threshold for mayoral involvement in a housing scheme falls from 150 homes to 50 wherever the authority is heading for refusal.
The consultation closes at 23:59 on 5 October. Regulations for the call in and order-making powers are to be laid later this year, with the powers live in early 2027. Anyone promoting a scheme in a mayoral area that will still be undetermined next spring should be planning for a second audience now.