The government removed the de facto ban on onshore wind in England, a restriction that had been in place since 2015, it said in a formal response to the Climate Change Committee's 2024 progress report published on 17 December 20241. The document, presented to Parliament under section 37 of the Climate Change Act 2008, describes the move as one of the new government's first actions1.
"One of the first actions of this government was to remove the de facto onshore wind ban in England."
The response sets the change within the Clean Energy Superpower Mission, which it says has two pillars: clean power by 2030 and accelerating to net zero1. It states that in five months the government had lifted the onshore wind ban, consented large amounts of solar, held a record-breaking renewables auction, kickstarted carbon capture and hydrogen industries, begun the rollout of the Warm Homes Plan and set out its plan to deliver clean power by 20301. The document also says the government is acting or partially acting on all 35 of the CCC's recommendations to the UK government1.
The same publication records that the CCC's progress report, published two weeks after the government came to office, found that just a third of the emissions reductions required to meet the 2030 climate target were covered by credible plans, and that for policies in delivery only 5 out of 22 indicators were shown to be on track1. It states that greenhouse gas emissions were provisionally down 53% in 2023 on 1990 levels, and that the UK's 2035 Nationally Determined Contribution headline target is to reduce all greenhouse gas emissions by at least 81% on 1990 levels, excluding international aviation and shipping emissions1.
On onshore wind costs, the response says that since 2015 the price of onshore wind has fallen by around 50%, alongside a significant fall in solar costs1. It does not set out planning policy detail for individual turbines, and no change to the planning tests that applied to onshore wind applications in England is described in the document1.
Why it matters for households
Onshore wind is one of the cheapest sources of low carbon electricity, and the response links cheaper, homegrown generation to protection from volatile international fossil fuel markets, noting that typical energy bills nearly doubled in the space of a year and that families remain gripped by a cost-of-living crisis caused by high bills1. For a household, the practical link between planning rules for wind farms and the price on a bill runs through the wholesale electricity market rather than through anything a homeowner controls directly. The document frames the wider transition as putting more power in the hands of consumers, citing smart meters as a way to control household energy use, and describes warmer, more efficient homes as one of the benefits of the transition1. It does not state what the removal of the ban means for any individual property, and no household-level figures for bill savings from onshore wind are given1.
What happens next
The response lists several dated commitments: a reformed Clean Heat Market Mechanism from 1 April 2025; Allocation Round 7 of the Contracts for Difference scheme opening in 2025; a sustainable aviation fuel mandate from 2025; and a summit hosted in London on 24 to 25 April 20251. It states that Carbon Budget 7 must be set by June 2026, and that a detailed plan to meet the carbon budgets will be set out in the coming months1. On 22 October 2024, the UK, Scottish and Welsh governments jointly commissioned the National Energy System Operator to develop a Strategic Spatial Energy Plan1.