MHCLG raises planner recruitment target to 1,325 as programme budget hits £30m a year

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has lifted the target for its Planning Capacity and Capability Programme to about 1,325 planners by the end of this Parliament, against a manifesto commitment of 300 new planning officers.

The department set out the revised figure in an update to its programme guidance on 20 October 2026. It said that, following the 2025 Budget, the government had committed an additional £48m to strengthen public sector planning capacity across the Parliament, of which £28.8m has gone to the programme.

That money supplements existing budgets and takes total programme investment to about £30m a year, MHCLG said. Wider cross-government recruitment and investment is expected to push the overall figure to about 1,400 recruitments across the planning system.

The scale of the ambition contrasts with the position in June 2025, when MHCLG awarded Public Practice £500,000 to boost local authority planning capacity. Dr Victoria Hills, Chief Executive of the Royal Town Planning Institute, said at the time: "This funding marks an important step toward recruiting the 300 new planners promised by the government."

Where the money goes

One strand is Pathways to Planning, a two-year on-the-job graduate training programme run by the Local Government Association. MHCLG is putting about £12m into it in 2026/27, including support towards salaries and educational bursaries. As of October 2026, 308 graduates had been placed in local planning authorities and statutory consultees under this government.

Public Practice, a social enterprise that places experienced built-environment professionals into public sector roles, is receiving over £2m in 2026/27, including targeted salary support for eligible councils. MHCLG said 112 of its Associates had been placed in 60 local planning authorities under this government as of October 2026.

The Planning Advisory Service is funded with about £3.2m in 2026/27 for training, peer learning, leadership support and advice to help authorities implement planning reform. MHCLG also said it was developing support for graduate, mid-career and experienced professionals to widen recruitment routes across local and regional government.

Development management funding

Of most direct relevance to housebuilders is the development management money. MHCLG said that in 2026 the programme awarded over £9m to local planning authorities with high growth potential and large volumes of major residential schemes at post-outline stage, with the aim of speeding up decisions.

The awards list shows the Greater London Authority received £3m and 62 local authorities shared over £6m. The government had announced in December 2025 that it would issue at least £8m, and eligible councils had to submit an expression of interest by 28 January 2026.

The programme also funds ATLAS LDN, a Greater London Authority-led service launched in January 2026 alongside New Homes Accelerator London. Nationally, ATLAS, the Advisory Team for Large Applications, is a partnership between MHCLG and Homes England, hosted within Homes England, that supports councils in unblocking complex planning issues under the New Homes Accelerator. The government said on 29 January 2026 that the accelerator's direct work had helped progress over 48,500 homes.

Fees and cost recovery

MHCLG linked the capacity programme to its planning fee reforms. The Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 gave local planning authorities powers to set their own application fees through a local variation model, and the department said it had laid draft regulations which, subject to Parliamentary approval, would increase national planning fees before the end of the year.

The government's response to its fees consultation set out a National Default Fee Schedule raising all planning fees to an estimated 90% cost recovery. It said retaining a modest taxpayer contribution struck the right balance rather than moving to full cost recovery.

The recruitment picture

MHCLG's own survey evidence sets out the recruitment position in local planning authorities. Its 2025 Local Authority Planning Capacity and Capability Survey, with fieldwork between 15 January and 28 February 2025, invited all 327 planning departments in England to take part and achieved a 45% response rate.

Measure	2023	2025
LPAs reporting recruitment difficulties	91%	79%
LPAs reporting skills gaps	97%	93%

Senior development management roles were the hardest to fill, with 52% of departments citing challenges.

Earlier funding rounds have focused on plan-making. After the revised National Planning Policy Framework was published on 12 December 2024, the government awarded over £29m in grants, including over £9m for Green Belt reviews and over £19m for local plan delivery. In 2025/26 MHCLG awarded over £15.7m in further local plan implementation funding and about £30m of initial funding for spatial development strategies.

The 2026 Planning Capacity and Capability Survey closed in April 2026 and MHCLG said its findings are being analysed.