Small builders say the planning bill helps. Their lenders disagree.

This is fictional sample content, created to demonstrate the layout. The places, people and figures in it are invented. It is not reporting.

The bill shortens the statutory determination period for minor applications. Builders welcome it, and the welcome is genuine.

Development finance is priced on risk and duration. A shorter planning stage should reduce both. Three lenders told us their models will not change until they see two years of actual determinations.

That lag is rational from a lender's point of view and expensive from a builder's. It means the benefit of a 2026 reform reaches pricing in 2028.

One lender said it would move faster if the authority published its own performance data monthly. Two authorities already do.