The government outlined plans to slash red tape today to meet its blockbuster target to build 1.5 million new homes in the next five years.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has taken aim at logjam in the planning system, with new measures to speed up the delivery of up to 300,000 homes across 200 sites in England, with London likely to be in the front line.
As secretary of state for housing and communities, she is the cabinet member responsible for delivering one of the Labour manifesto’s signature pledges in time for the next election.
Major figures in the industry have backed the target, but it is also widely seen as ambitious.
Rayner said today’s plans would “get shovels in the ground” and her “New Homes Accelerator” had started identifying projects to speed up.
England’s planning regime has long been a source of complaint among developers. They complain that it is too easy for a small number of objections to hold up major schemes for years, adding to the acute shortage of housing across the country, which is at its worst in London and the south east.
The Ministry of Housing and Homes England has already made progress at four major sites which will complete over 14,000 homes.
The scrutiny will also cover a site in Essex known as Tendring Colchester Borders Garden Community. It will reach more sites in capital, within the area of the Greater London Authority.
The CEO of mixed-use developer PPHE highlighted some of the problems he has faced in the capital. Greg Hegarty has suffered planning rejections on a 15-storey tower for a site in Lambeth.
“The process that we had to go through was absolutely…I don’t want to say disgusting, but business prohibitive,” he told the Standard.
According to today’s announcement, government staff will now work to “resolve specific local issues and deploy planning experts on the ground to work through blockages at each site identified.”
That will include “looking at barriers to affordable housing delivery where relevant.”
Rayner said: “This government has a moral obligation to do everything within our power to build the homes that people desperately need and we won’t hesitate to intervene where we need to.”
She added:
“For far too long the delivery of tens of thousands of new homes has been held back by a failure to make sure the development system is working as it should.”
There has been a general welcome across the industry for the moves, especially the return of mandatory housing targets for councils.
David O’Leary, executive director of the Home Builders Federation, backed today’s proposals.
“Adopting a pragmatic approach to planning will increase the pace at which new homes are built and help to turn around ailing housing supply.
“Unlocking homes and delivering new communities will boost growth and support job creation while providing young people with access to new, more affordable housing.”
