0:04 AM, 31st July 2024, About An hour ago
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Angela Rayner has warned that councils will be stripped of planning powers if they fail to meet housing targets.
Under new plans announced by the Housing Secretary mandatory housing targets will increase from 300,000 to 370,000.
Ms Rayner says councils that fail to meet targets will be compelled to build on low-value “grey belt” land, like disused car parks, situated in the green belt.
Ms Rayner told the House of Commons that two-thirds of local councils in England don’t have an up-to-date plan for building the new homes needed in their areas.
She says that from now on, all councils will have to draw up a plan showing where they’ll put the houses to meet their yearly targets.
The housing secretary also announced that there will be “golden rules” for development on the green belt, requiring that half of new homes be affordable.
Ms Rayner also vowed to work with local authorities to deliver a “council house revolution”.
However, the housing secretary warned that councils failing to comply will be stripped of their planning powers, and Whitehall will impose a housing plan on them.
Ms Rayner told MPs that she understands the plans will be controversial but accused the Conservative government of “ducking difficult decisions on housebuilding” and says the number of new homes built is below 200,000.
She said: “Whilst the previous government watered down housing targets, caving into their anti-growth backbenchers, this Labour government is taking the tough choices putting people and country first.
“For the first time, we will make local housing targets mandatory, requiring local authorities to use the same method to work out how many homes to build. But that alone is insufficient to meet our ambition, so we’re also changing the standard method used to calculate housing need so it better reflects the urgency of supply for local areas.
“Rather than relying on outdated data, this new method will require local authorities to plan for homes proportionate to the size of existing communities, and it will incorporate an uplift where house prices are most out of step with local incomes.
“The collective total of these local targets will therefore rise from some 300,000 a year to just over 370,000 a year.”
In response to Angela Rayner’s announcement, Shadow Housing Secretary Kemi Badenoch said rural councils are worried they’ll be forced to take on housing projects that urban areas haven’t managed.
She said: “Councillors have repeatedly told me that they are afraid that they will be forced under a duty to cooperate to sacrifice their own green spaces to take the housing need that the urban leaders who are her friends fail to meet.”
Ms Badenoch also questioned what penalties would be enforced on urban council leaders who do not meet their housing targets.
Fergus Charlton, a partner in law firm Michelmores’ planning practice, says increasing the housing targets could be problematic.
He said: “Increasing the housing targets combined with pressure to produce new local plans should result in more housing allocated sites. Allocated sites ought to have an easier ride through the planning system, meaning increased certainty.
“But if local plans are not updated there will be a disconnect between the allocation housing numbers in the out-of-date local plans and the new mandated targets. That will encourage developers to appeal planning refusals.
“Identifying sites for allocation will put pressure on recipient local communities and the green belt, so increasing the housing targets will be controversial.”
Philip Allin, director, at Boyer (part of Leaders Romans Group) says it remains to be seen whether Labour’s housebuilding plans will become a reality.
He said: “At the dispatch box, Angela Rayner set out the ambitious programme for delivering the government’s ‘decade of renewal’.
“Much of the detail will follow, initially in planned changes to the NPPF culminating in the publication of a long-term housing strategy in the coming months. Whilst the anticipated changes are no secret the nature and language both seek to underline the significant shift underway and more muscular nature of the government’s new approach.
“Many of the aims are familiar (e.g. requirement for universal Local Plan coverage). However, the tools with which this is to be achieved differ markedly from those of the previous government.
“How already stretched planning authorities will deliver these objectives will remain to be seen. However, these announcements are most welcome and will hopefully result in the new infrastructure and increased housebuilding that the country desperately needs.”
Colin Brown, head of planning and development, at Carter Jonas said: “We support the return of mandatory housing targets and the emphasis on delivery in areas where affordability issues are at their most acute.
“It is positive to see that local authorities will be obliged to deliver the housing that is needed in their areas, and while we support the fact that they can decide how to do this, we are pleased to see they will not have the ability to duck the issue simply because they choose to.”
You can watch the announcement by Angela Rayner below
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