England planning changes: CPOs, EDPs from 18 Feb 2026

If you follow planning, mark your calendar. A new Statutory Instrument switches on major parts of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 and the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025. Signed at 2.20pm on 18 December 2025 by Matthew Pennycook, Minister of State at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, the regulations stage the rollout across December 2025, 18 February 2026, and 1 April 2026, as recorded on legislation.gov.uk.

Here is the simple timeline. From 19 December 2025, Natural England can start preparing Environmental Delivery Plans and ministers can make supporting regulations. Most day-to-day changes for planning and compulsory purchase take effect on 18 February 2026 in England. Annual reporting on the new nature framework begins on 1 April 2026 for the 2026–27 financial year.

Compulsory purchase orders, or CPOs, allow public bodies to buy land for projects serving the public interest. The 2023 Act now lets a confirming authority approve a CPO subject to conditions. In plain terms, it is a ‘yes, if…’ decision: the order is confirmed, but the powers cannot be used until named conditions are met. This applies where the confirming or acquiring authority is not the Welsh Ministers, so the change is aimed at English orders.

Notices and vesting are being tidied and sped up under the 2025 Act. Newspaper notices get a simpler, clearer description of land. The general vesting declaration process can be accelerated when land is unoccupied or no owner can be identified, and earlier vesting is possible by agreement. There is also a targeted update so that when land is acquired on behalf of parish or community councils, an authority can direct that compensation is assessed on the basis that prospects of planning permission are ignored under section 14A of the 1961 Act.

Cut-off rules protect schemes already under way. If a CPO’s notice of making, or a draft notice, was first published before 18 February 2026, the new conditional-confirmation amendments to the Acquisition of Land Act 1981 do not apply to that order. The faster vesting route under section 108 of the 2025 Act does not apply to compulsory acquisitions authorised before that section comes into force in England on 18 February 2026. Live schemes past those points continue under the previous law.

Environmental Delivery Plans, or EDPs, are a new framework for balancing development with nature recovery. Natural England can set the area covered, the type and scale of development in scope, the environmental features that matter, the likely impacts, and the conservation measures required. An EDP may include a charging schedule for a nature restoration levy, must meet content requirements, and moves through notification and consultation before it is final.

From 19 December 2025, Natural England can begin the groundwork for EDPs. It must notify the Secretary of State and publish that decision when it starts an EDP. Natural England is given duties to administer, implement and monitor plans. The Secretary of State and Natural England must follow general duties when using EDP powers, and public authorities have a duty to co-operate and provide reasonable assistance. Regulation-making powers for the levy are active, and key terms are defined in law.

National Policy Statements, or NPSs, guide decisions on nationally significant infrastructure. From 18 February 2026 they must be fully reviewed and updated at least every five years. There is also an extra parliamentary step for material policy changes, and the law changes how legal challenges are handled both for NPSs and for development consent decisions under the Planning Act 2008.

Development corporations-bodies set up to deliver large-scale regeneration-gain clearer powers from 18 February 2026. The legislation resolves overlaps in favour of the higher-tier authority, aligns objectives on sustainable development, climate change and good design across corporation types, and standardises the list of infrastructure they can deliver so it matches Mayoral Development Corporations.

In practice, you should expect clearer public notices, the option for conditional confirmation of CPOs, and faster vesting where land is empty or owners cannot be traced, but only for new cases after the cut-off dates. You should also expect EDPs to guide where and how development pays back to nature, with Natural England coordinating and councils, agencies and utilities required to assist.

If you are building a glossary for class, keep these in mind. A CPO is a compulsory purchase order used to acquire land for public projects; a confirming authority decides whether a CPO can proceed; an acquiring authority is the body seeking to buy the land; a GVD is a general vesting declaration used to transfer title after a CPO; an EDP is an Environmental Delivery Plan drawn up by Natural England; an NPS is a National Policy Statement setting policy for big infrastructure.

Here is the timeline in plain language. Enabling steps for EDPs and regulation-making began on 19 December 2025; the principal planning and compulsory purchase changes start on 18 February 2026 in England; Natural England’s first annual reporting duty under section 91 begins on 1 April 2026. The Statutory Instrument is published on legislation.gov.uk, and impact assessments for both Acts are listed by the UK Parliament and the housing ministry.

It is worth noting the jurisdiction. Unless stated otherwise, these changes apply in England. Where the text refers to confirming authorities other than the Welsh Ministers, it means English CPOs; Wales follows its own arrangements. For any cross-border scheme, check which confirming authority leads before applying the new dates.

You can turn this into a short classroom task. Track one local scheme against the dates above, identify whether its CPO notice was published before 18 February 2026, check whether an EDP covers the area, and map who must do what-your council, Natural England, network operators and developers. This is how we build media literacy around planning law: by reading notices and following the process from paper to place.