The Lib Dems push a “computer says yes” approach to growth: Luminate’s key takeaways from the 2026 Lib Dem party conference

For energy, infrastructure and housing key moments from the conference included:

• Planning and infrastructure: Treasury Spokesperson Daisy Cooper attacked the planning system’s “computer says no” culture, unveiling a growth plan built around faster approvals process and a new industry standard for community benefit.

• Energy: Davey backed approval of the Jackdaw gas field, and the party’s growth plan sets out grid connection and long-term energy contract reforms with direct relevance to renewables developers. Expect a more pragmatic and cost-of-living-driven approach to energy policy to continue featuring in the months ahead.  

• Housing: Conference reaffirmed its target of 150,000 new social rent homes a year, alongside a wider ambition of 380,000 homes a year, with councils given new powers to build directly and end Right to Buy.

The flagship growth announcement came from Daisy Cooper, who asset out plans for a new Department for Growth built from a merged Treasury and business department, with a single approvals window for NSIP projects. Consultees would be required to work with applicants towards solutions “rather than simply objecting”, and publicly funded projects worth more than £500m would get a formal design freeze once they reach Final Investment Decision, protecting them from scope creep after financial close. Perhaps most significant for developers is an industry-wide standard for community benefit on national energy infrastructure, framed explicitly by the party as a response to communities feeling that infrastructure happens to them rather than with them.  

Davey’s backing for the Jackdaw Gas Field is perhaps narrower than headlines suggest his argument is about carbon footprint, not about displacing renewables. He’d rather see domestic gas from the North Sea than higher-carbon imported LNG, not that gas should compete with the transition. The more useful details for renewables and grid clients sit in the growth plan itself, which proposes upgrading grid capacity while cutting connection costs, extending energy contracts to 25 years for greater investment certainty, and connecting AI data centres directly to renewable sources to reduce constraint payments.  

On housing, conference backed councils becoming landlords again - building and maintaining their own social housing rather than having it managed through housing associations, with new borrowing powers to fund it. Councils would also gain the power to end Right to Buy locally, protecting new housing stock from resale.  

None of this is settled policy, and much of conference was spent on the party’s own strategic identity.  

What it could mean for our clients

While the Liberal Democrats aren’t in a strong position to shape national policy in some ways, the party does influence and carry weight locally Ideas and positioning from conference will feed into how many Lib Dem councillors and controlled authorities approach local energy, development and infrastructure – with local buy-in remaining key.  

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