UK Government Policy (Edexcel AS Geography): Revision Note

Infrastructure Investments

• It is the role of national governments to facilitate regeneration projects, in partnership with charities and developers, to tackle economic, social and environmental inequalities

• By investing in infrastructure, such as high-speed rail and airport developments, the UK government can maintain economic growth and improve accessibility to promote regeneration of regions

  • As relatively remote places become more accessible, they become more attractive to businesses and investments, which generates jobs and can lead to the positive multiplier effect

• Infrastructure projects are generally very expensive and take time to complete, so require government backing and funding

• Most projects are public-private partnerships

  • The private sector is used to design, build, finance and/or maintain public sector investments in return for a share of profits generated by the project

• A variety of stakeholders are involved in regeneration projects 

  • Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) markets the UK’s image abroad and includes Sport England and the National Lottery

    • Some of its projects include the London Olympic Park regeneration plan and the various Commonwealth Game developments 

  • Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) aims to achieve environmental stability as part of sustained economic growth by:

    • Developing rural villages in decline

    • Protecting eroding coastlines

    • Improving the agricultural industry

  • UK Trade and Investment supports UK businesses and aims to attract more foreign direct investment

  • Local councils aim to improve their area by: 

    • Attracting new businesses

    • Increasing housing stock or improving the quality 

    • Regenerating a problematic location (abandoned, deprived or dangerous places)

  • Non-governmental organisations (NGOs), such as pressure groups, environmental groups, charities and businesses

  • Local individuals

• There may be differences of opinion between stakeholders that need to be resolved by the government or legal systems

• To encourage economic growth within the UK, national infrastructure investment has been used to improve accessibility and reduce the North-south divide 

• Examples of infrastructure investment projects in the UK include:

  • £27 billion to improve the quality, capacity and safety of the motorways and major A roads, which were largely built in the 1960s and 70s

  • HS2 is a new high-speed rail network that will connect London to Birmingham and then the north

    • Phase 1 is expected to open between 2029 and 2033

    • It has been announced (2023) that phase 2 will no longer go ahead

    • Estimated to create 22,000 jobs

    • Cut travel times by half

The HS2 route

• The expansion and upgrade of Heathrow Airport

  • Building a third runway to increase flight capacity by 260,000 flights per year

  • Terminals 1 and 3 would be demolished, and terminals 2 and 5 would be expanded over 30 years

  • It is expected to cost just under £20 billion, which would be privately funded

  • Business leaders are in favour of the expansion, which could boost the wider economy by £61 billion and create an additional 77,000 jobs

  • Local residents and environmental NGOs oppose the project as 761 homes will be demolished and pollution will increase with the extra flights 

  • The expansion project is currently paused due to the pandemic, inflation and the Government’s commitments to reducing the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions

Development and effect on regeneration

• The UK government is a key player in making decisions about regeneration:

  • Government actions may prioritise national needs over local needs, which can delay regeneration projects and widen regional inequalities

  • Their domestic policies influence regeneration through:

    • Planning laws and restrictions

    • House building targets

    • Housing affordability programmes

• These domestic planning policies can affect the rate and type of development, which impacts the amount of economic regeneration taking place in urban and rural areas

UK planning laws

• Planning refers to decisions made regarding how land should be used

  • The aim is to create places that people want to work, live and invest in

• Central and local governments control planning laws

• Planning laws' impact on the amount of development and regeneration which can occur

• National decisions may override local interests due to the government's National Planning Policy Framework (currently under review, 2026)

  • The framework focuses on planning for sustainable development

Submitting a project for planning

• A planner submits a proposal to the local authority

• The local authority decides whether it fits with the current local plan, based on national guidelines

  • The local authority either rejects the proposal or gives permission

Special areas

• Green belt land is undeveloped land surrounding urban areas, where the planning laws are stricter

  • This means that there is less building in these areas

  • They prevent the outward spread of urban areas

• Conservation areas (such as National Parks)

  • These areas also have stricter planning guidelines

  • Developments are limited to small-scale residential and commercial schemes

Reading

• The former Reading Golf Club will have over 200 new homes

  • There were 4500 objections from residents

• The local authority approved the plans as they included the investment of Hundreds of thousands of pounds into local healthcare and facilities

• This is known as planning gain

Planning for housing needs in the UK

• Reasons for the shortage of affordable housing:

  • More people live alone

  • People are living longer

  • Levels of immigration

• The 'Right to Buy' policy of the 1980s led to the sale of over two million council houses

• The UK requires approximately one million new houses to ensure everyone has a decent house to live in

  • The government wanted to achieve this by the end of 2024

  • This was not achieved

  • The new target is 1.5 million homes by 2029

• The housing targets have put increased pressure on local authorities to grant permission to housing developments on land they might otherwise have protected

  • In London, there are plans to build over 230,000 new houses in the surrounding green belt

  • London has the highest demand for housing and the least amount of land available

• House prices have increased due to the high demand for housing and limited supply

• In the UK, average house prices are 8 times the average salary

  • In honeypot areas such as the Lake District and Cotswolds, houses can be up to 12-15 times the average salary

  • The average deposit is one year's income

• This has led to a lack of affordable housing

  • Only 8% of the rural housing stock is social housing, compared to 17% of the urban housing stock

  • In rural areas, wages tend to be lower, making it more difficult to afford a home

• Attempts to increase the amount of affordable housing include

  • Planning permission is only granted if 10% of the housing built is affordable

  • New law - Levelling up and Regeneration Act, 2023 - which means local authorities can charge 100% council tax on second homes from April 2025

    • The Lake District, Scarborough and Dorset are some authorities that have implemented this

  • Holiday lets must be let for over 70 nights a year to qualify for business rates relief

  • In some areas, such as Cornwall, new builds must be principle residence only

  • Rural exception sites - these are small sites adjacent to settlements

    • They can only be built on to provide affordable homes

  • The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) has

    • Restored mandatory housing targets

    • Introduced "grey belt", which is lower quality green belt land released for building

    • Created rural exception sites

    • Reduced restrictions on the conversion of agricultural buildings to residential use

Middlesborough

• In Middlesbrough, 145 affordable new homes have been built in 2025 as part of the Union Village development

  • This was part of the Affordable Homes Programme

Government Decisions & Effect on Growth

• The government’s international policies can significantly impact on economic growth and direct/indirect investment, including:

  • The degree of their involvement in capital markets, like banking and the stock exchange, which is achieved through the deregulation of financial markets

  • The government creating open door migration policies to influence labour supplies and skills

International migration policies

• In 2022, UK net migration reached 606,000, the highest figure ever recorded according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS)

• The rise is driven by people arriving from non-EU countries on government-issued visas to study, work or join family members

• The current policy for people wanting to work in the UK is they have to apply for a visa through a points-based system 

• The main economic arguments for immigration are:

  • Increased gross domestic product (GDP) 

  • Extra taxes and production 

  • Both well-qualified and lower-skilled immigrants can fill skills shortages

• However, high levels of net migration can also hinder regeneration:

  • Increased pressure on services and housing availability in certain areas

  • Social issues caused by asylum seekers being housed in hard-to-let properties in already deprived areas, such as estates in Middlesbrough

Deregulation policies

• Before the deregulation of financial markets in the 1970s and 80s, London was viewed as globally uncompetitive as only UK banks could operate in UK cities 

• In 1986, the government decided to deregulate the financial sector in a policy known as the big bang, which meant:

  • The London Stock Exchange became a private limited company

  • Overseas companies to set up in London without governmental approval eg. banks like HSBC

• The big bang resulted in:

  • Banking, finance and business services creating almost 30% of the UK’s GDP by 2015, double that of 1986

  • It drove the regeneration of London Docklands in Canary Wharf, with the skyscrapers the visible evidence of this new investment

  • London becoming the leading financial centre in the world

• Deregulation also enabled wealthy foreign investors to buy property as second homes, which meant they paid less tax in their home countries

  • This has added to the lack of available housing as the owners often leave these homes unoccupied

  • It is estimated that 138,000 residential and commercial properties in England and Wales are owned by offshore companies (2022)