"Call-in" powers over the biggest planning schemes are set to move to mayors across England, under government plans that could reshape how housing and commercial development is signed off in city regions from Greater Manchester to West Yorkshire. Under the proposal, a mayor would be able to step into major applications judged important to local growth and direct a council to take the scheme forward or refuse it. For places that have spent years arguing for more control closer to home, that is a serious shift in where the biggest planning calls are made.

The government says the move has backing from ten mayors from different parties and would bring mayoral areas outside London into line with powers already held in the capital. For leaders in the North, that matters because it puts regional mayors on a more even footing when large housing, commercial and regeneration projects land on the table. The thresholds are not minor. The plans would cover schemes with more than 150 homes, more than 15,000 square metres of commercial space, or any building above 30 metres, roughly ten storeys. These are the developments that can change a town centre, open up employment land or set the pace of housebuilding for years.

Ministers also want mayors to be able to give up-front permission for development, so building can begin without a developer having to submit a separate application. The case from government is plain enough: if an area knows what it wants to build and where, it should not be stuck in unnecessary delay. In northern towns and cities trying to bring stubborn brownfield sites back into use, speed matters. A stalled site can sit for years as a reminder of promises not kept. Getting decisions made earlier, and at the right level, is exactly the sort of practical devolution many regional leaders have been pushing for.

Town halls are not being pushed out of the picture altogether. The government says councils will still decide the vast majority of planning applications, and it points to places that are already delivering at pace. Over the last three years, Salford delivered 7,584 homes against a requirement of 4,249. Leeds delivered 11,690 against a requirement of 10,151. Knowsley reached 1,888 homes, well over double its requirement of 772. Those figures matter because they show councils outside London are already getting homes built, and in some cases beating the target by a fair distance.

There are safeguards written into the plan. Every decision would still have to follow planning rules, the local plan and national policy. Applicants would keep their right of appeal, and ministers would still hold a backstop power to intervene themselves. That will be watched closely by councils wary of losing local control and by residents who want reassurance that major schemes cannot simply be waved through. The government’s line is that mayoral power may grow, but the rulebook does not disappear.

Money sits behind the change as well. Ministers say mayors will have a bigger say over how national housing funding is spent in their areas. Homes England would still lead on the biggest projects, but its funding and expertise would be directed towards priorities agreed with local mayors. The government says a £1.3 billion share of the national fund for land and infrastructure has already been allocated to the seven most established mayoral areas. It also points to £234 million in brownfield funding for seven areas and £1.5 billion committed through the Housing Accelerator Fund.

Mayors outside London would also be able to charge a levy on development to help pay for major infrastructure, using the same type of tool that supported the Elizabeth line in the capital. The government argues that model boosted rail capacity, backed housing growth and helped drive regeneration. For northern England, the wider point is hard to miss. If ministers want more homes, stronger town centres and better-connected jobs markets outside the South East, they have to hand over more than warm words. These planning powers would not end the rows that come with development, but they would give regional mayors a far bigger hand in deciding what growth looks like on their own patch.