The government has announced plans for up to 150 major infrastructure projects, that it says will add billions to the economy.

Planning decisions for the likes of gigafactories, solar farms, roads and railway lines are set to be green lighted in the next five years, the government says.

According to the government, its plans to rebuild Britain will arrest decades of failures and fix the housing crisis to deliver for working people, while the new milestones will create higher living standards in every region of the country.

The announcement is part of the Plan for Change programme announced by the prime minister Kier Starmer this week.

The new plan asks secretaries of state to turbocharge decisions on major infrastructure projects, which the government says will almost triple the 57 decisions made in the previous parliament and more than the total number of decisions made since 2011, alongside building 1.5 million safe and decent homes.

While the forthcoming Planning and Infrastructure Bill will set out how the delivery process for critical infrastructure is streamlined, including accelerating upgrades to the national grid and boosting renewable energy.

New ten-year strategies for housing and infrastructure will also be published next Spring, providing a roadmap for future investment and economic growth.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said: “We were elected on the promise of change and turning the page on failure, rebuilding this country from the bottom up.

“That’s why we won’t let the voices of the small minority of blockers hold the country hostage when it comes to growth. We’ve seen this done over the past year – with decisions on vital infrastructure with huge potential to grow our economy being unnecessarily delayed.

“Our Plan for Change will stop this and drive real improvements in the lives of working people.

“We’re already taking decisive action by transforming the planning system and bringing forward the biggest boost in social and affordable housing in a generation and alongside this uplift in infrastructure, we will unlock long-term economic prosperity for every part of the country.”

The government says it will simplify the consenting process for major infrastructure projects, providing greater certainty to developers and turbocharging economic growth, in line with its growth and clean energy missions. This will help ensure projects are not unnecessarily delayed, so they can be brought forward quicker and provide greater confidence to prospective investors.

The government has already approved six new major projects on transport and energy infrastructure, including:

• Four new solar farms in Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, East Cambridgeshire and West Suffolk, Rutland, and Lincolnshire
• A new terminal at the Port of Immingham on the Humber Estuary
• Overhead and underground cable electric lines from Bramford, Suffolk to Twinstead in Essex.

The autumn budget confirmed that government investment in housing will increase to £5 billion for next year, including £500 million in new funding for the affordable homes programme.