The West Midlands mayor would be able to take over or refuse big Solihull applications from early 2027. The thresholds, and the 5 October consultation deadline.

The government wants to let the Mayor of the West Midlands take planning applications out of Solihull Council’s hands and decide them at regional level. A consultation published on 24 August sets out how, and it runs for six weeks. (Planning powers for mayors in England, MHCLG)

Responses close at 23:59 on Monday 5 October 2026. The government says it intends to lay the regulations by the end of this year, with the powers switching on in early 2027.

The powers themselves already exist in law. They were created by the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026, which extends to mayors outside London the planning powers the Mayor of London has held since 2008. This consultation is about the detail: which applications qualify, and on what grounds a mayor may step in.

What the mayor could actually do

A qualifying application is called an application of potential strategic importance, or PSI. Where one is submitted to Solihull Council, the council would have to refer it to the mayor. There are then three possible outcomes.

  • The mayor writes to say there is no wish for further involvement, and the council decides it as normal.
  • Before the council issues its decision, it must tell the mayor whether it is minded to grant or refuse. The mayor then has 14 days to act.
  • The mayor either directs refusal, with published reasons that go on the council’s planning register, or calls the application in and becomes the planning authority for it, taking the decision and negotiating any section 106 agreement.

If the mayor calls an application in, there must either be a hearing in public or a written representations procedure. All the objections sent to the council, including those from parish and town councils, must be passed to the mayor.

That choice of procedure matters for anyone who objects to a scheme locally. The Act itself allows written representations only for a narrow list of technical cases. The consultation proposes widening that to all called-in applications, on the basis that decision makers are best placed to pick the procedure.

An applicant refused by the mayor can still appeal to the Secretary of State, and the Secretary of State can still call in an application a mayor has called in.

The thresholds that would apply in Solihull

Two sets of categories are proposed. The first would be available from day one.

  • more than 150 homes
  • more than 15,000 square metres of non-residential or mixed-use floorspace
  • any building over 30 metres tall
  • an increase of 15 metres in height that takes a building over 30 metres

The second set would only become available once the West Midlands has adopted a Spatial Development Strategy. It includes the categories most likely to bite in a borough like this one:

  • a building of 1,000 square metres of floorspace on Green Belt land
  • loss of two hectares of playing fields
  • loss of 200 homes, or prejudicing residential use of a site of four hectares or more
  • solar schemes of 50MW to 100MW, onshore wind of 50MW to 100MW, and standalone battery storage of 100MW or more
  • waste, transport and storage and distribution schemes above set sizes

Those are set out in Annex A of the consultation. The government is also asking a separate question about a lower bar. It wants views on whether mayors outside London should be able to call in schemes of 50 homes or more where the council is minded to refuse them. That power entered the Mayor of London Order on 11 May 2026.

Why this lands harder in Solihull than in most places

Two Solihull numbers explain the significance.

The first is Green Belt. 66.6% of the borough is designated Green Belt, 11,870 hectares out of 17,830, on the government’s own count as at 31 March 2025. The figure for England as a whole is 12.5%. (Local authority Green Belt statistics for England 2024 to 2025, MHCLG) A 1,000 square metre Green Belt threshold covers a great deal more ground here than it would in most council areas.

The second is housing land supply. Before an SDS is adopted, the consultation proposes that a mayor may only intervene where the development is linked to the growth of the area and there are sound planning reasons. For housing applications, it states that the assessment of impact on growth “will include consideration of… whether LPAs are meeting their housing targets”.

Solihull is not meeting its target. The council’s own five-year land supply statement of March 2025 identified deliverable sites for 2,963 homes against a buffered five-year requirement of 6,946, which is 2.13 years of supply. The standard method figure for annual need has risen 63%, from 816 homes a year to 1,331. We set out the full position in Solihull planning: 2.13 years’ land supply, new plan due.

Timetable for mayoral planning powers Timeline with five points. 24 August 2026, consultation published. 5 October 2026, consultation closes at 23:59. End of 2026, government intends to lay the secondary legislation. Early 2027, powers commence for the largest schemes. After a Spatial Development Strategy is adopted, Green Belt, infrastructure and energy categories become available. Source: MHCLG consultation, Planning powers for mayors in England, 24 August 2026. When the mayor's planning powers would arrive Dates and intentions as stated in the government's consultation 24 Aug 2026 Consultation published 5 Oct 2026 Responses close 23:59 End of 2026 Regulations to be laid Early 2027 Powers begin for 150+ home schemes After the SDS Green Belt, energy and infrastructure Source: MHCLG, Planning powers for mayors in England, published 24 August 2026 Graphic by The Solihull Post
The government's stated timetable. The later categories depend on the West Midlands adopting a Spatial Development Strategy.

The Spatial Development Strategy is years away

The Green Belt and energy categories are tied to a document that does not exist yet. The West Midlands Combined Authority board has formally begun work on a Spatial Development Strategy, a regional plan covering the next 20 to 30 years, and says it will guide but not replace local plans. (West Midlands Spatial Development Strategy, WMCA)

Mayor Richard Parker has said the blueprint “will directly support my forthcoming Growth Plan” and that it will be “crafted responsibly and democratically, shaped by close collaboration and public engagement”.

The government originally said the call-in powers would only be available once a mayor had adopted an SDS. The consultation drops that: it now considers implementation “at the earliest opportunity” important, and warns that it will monitor SDS progress and may use the Secretary of State’s intervention powers if that work slows down.

One scheme that shows the scale

Solihull’s Planning Committee refused a solar farm at Woodhouse Farm, Catherine de Barnes, on 24 July, going against its own officers. That scheme was 49.9MW across 63.8 hectares of Green Belt farmland. (Decision notice PL/2025/01404/PPFL, Solihull Council)

At 49.9MW it sits just below the 50MW floor of the proposed solar category, so a scheme of exactly that size would not qualify on generating capacity alone. It is a useful yardstick all the same: the applications the mayor is being handed are the ones that fill committee rooms. Our report on that decision is here: Solihull solar farm refused: councillors overrule officers.

What it means for you

  • The consultation is open to anyone, not just councils. You can respond through the online survey or by email to MayorsPlanningPowersConsultation@communities.gov.uk. The deadline is 23:59 on 5 October 2026.
  • Question 3 is the one to look at if you object to housing schemes. It asks whether mayors outside London should be able to call in developments of 50 homes or more where the council wants to refuse them. That is a much lower bar than 150.
  • Question 1 covers the Green Belt threshold. In a borough that is two thirds Green Belt, the 1,000 square metre category is the one with the widest reach.
  • Nothing changes for applications decided this year. Solihull’s Planning Committee continues to decide everything under the 2013 Local Plan until the powers commence, and the council’s draft Local Plan is still expected this autumn.

The consultation runs to 32 questions. It also covers Mayoral Development Orders, which let a mayor grant permission without any application being submitted, and a Mayoral Community Infrastructure Levy on development across the region.

More Solihull local information: planning news, council tax bands and bin collection days.