Most coverage of the Government’s new mayoral planning powers has concentrated on the moment a mayor takes an application out of a council’s hands.

Under the proposals now out for consultation, applications involving more than 150 homes, more than 15,000 square metres of floorspace or buildings over 30 metres would be referred to the relevant mayor. The mayor could leave the council to determine the application, direct its refusal or call it in and become the decision-maker.

The package also includes Mayoral Development Orders and a mayoral infrastructure levy. The Government intends to introduce the call-in and development-order powers in early 2027.

The transfer of a decision is significant, but the power may influence applications long before a mayor uses it.

The power before call-in

Speaking on GB News following the announcement, PLMR CEO Kevin Craig welcomed the decision. Drawing on his experience as a former planning committee chair, he argued that “giving mayors more power and leverage to get stuff built is going to make a difference to people”.

“Leverage” captures an important part of the reform. A mayor does not need to determine an application to affect the discussion around it. A development may sit within one council area while its effects spread across the wider region.

Paul Bristow, the Conservative Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, made a similar point on BBC Breakfast. He said he could approve “tomorrow” two blocked housing schemes that would provide family homes and support economic growth. More revealingly, he suggested the “perceived threat of intervention” could encourage councils and developers to find a compromise.

Knowing that the mayor can step in changes the discussion. Applicants have more reason to explain a scheme’s regional value, while councils and developers have an added incentive to resolve disagreements before refusal. The consultation expects mayors to use their mandate and convening power to work with local planning authorities.

What London can tell us

London provides the longest-running comparison, with the Mayor holding similar powers since 2008. In 2024, the Mayor considered 140 applications at Stages 2 and 3 of the referral process, according to the GLA’s latest analysis. Only two were approved directly following a call-in.

The GLA can be involved before that final stage, including through pre-application discussions and its initial review of referred schemes. The visible decision to call in an application therefore sits at the end of a longer process involving City Hall, the borough and the applicant.

Those figures cannot tell us how far mayoral involvement altered the other applications, but they show that London boroughs continued to determine almost every referred scheme. The call-in power was available and credible without becoming the usual route for deciding a major application.

The political structure outside London is different. Councils are more directly involved in combined authority decisions than London boroughs are in the GLA. Mayors elsewhere chair boards made up of council leaders, making cooperation between the two tiers especially important.

That cooperation needs to begin before an application reaches committee. Mayoral authorities will also need enough planning expertise to identify strategic issues early and work through them with local planning authorities.

If much of this influence is exercised before a formal call-in, transparency will also matter. Councils and applicants will need clarity about the strategic issues on which a mayor expects to intervene, so early engagement does not become an informal second planning process.

What this changes for the development sector

For development teams, the practical consequence is that mayors become a more significant stakeholder and influencer of decision in the planning process, even if they don’t become the formal decision maker.

Relationships with councils and communities remain central. Where proposals meet the referral thresholds, mayoral offices and strategic authority teams should also be engaged early, with a clear explanation of how local benefits connect with the emerging Spatial Development Strategy.

Waiting until a council is minded to refuse will leave little room to address concerns or adjust the proposal. Development teams will need to understand the mayoral position while an application can still be shaped, alongside continuing engagement with the council and local community.

If the system works as intended, formal call-ins may remain rare. The more important effect may be seen in whether earlier regional involvement helps difficult applications reach a decision without formal intervention. The number of formal call-ins would then be a poor guide to the policy’s real effect.

PLMR Founder and CEO, Kevin Craig, discussing the announcement on GB News