Angela Rayner Announces Major Overhaul To Planning and Green Belt Rules To Boost Housebuilding

Evening Standard

Transcript

00:00For the first time, we'll make local housing targets mandatory, requiring local authorities

00:06to use the same method to work out how many homes to build.

00:10But Mr Speaker, that alone is insufficient to meet our ambition.

00:16So we're also changing the standard method used to calculate housing need, so it better

00:21reflects the urgency of supply for local areas.

00:25Rather than relying on outdated data, this new method will require local authorities

00:30to plan for homes proportionate to the size of existing communities.

00:35And it will incorporate an uplift where house prices are most out of step with local incomes.

00:42The collective total of these local targets will therefore rise from some 300,000 a year

00:50to just over 370,000 a year.

00:55Now some will find this uncomfortable, and others will try and poke holes.

01:00So I'll tackle the four arguments head on.

01:04First that we're demanding too much from some places.

01:08To this I say, we have a housing crisis and a mandate for real change, and we all must

01:16play our part.

01:19Second, that some areas might appear to get a surprising target.

01:23But Mr Speaker, no method is perfect, and the old one produced all sorts of odd outcomes.

01:29Crucially, ours offers extra stability for local authorities.

01:34Third, that we are lowering our ambition for London.

01:39I'm clear we're doing no such thing.

01:42That London had a nominal target of almost 100,000 homes a year based on an arbitrary

01:48uplift was absolute nonsense.

01:51The adoption of the London plan has a target of around 52,000, and delivery in London last

01:57year was around 35,000.

02:00The target we're now setting for London, roughly 80,000, is still a huge ask.

02:06But I know it's one that the Mayor is determined to rise to, and I met with him last week about

02:12this.

02:13Fourth, some will say a total of 370,000 is not enough.

02:20To this I say, ambition is critical, but we also need to be realistic.

02:28I want to now move to the greenbelt.

02:30If we have targets for what we need to build, we next need to ensure we're building in

02:35the right places.

02:37The first port of call must be brownfield land.

02:40We are making some changes today to support this, but it's only part of the answer.

02:47This is why we must create a more strategic system for greenbelt release, to make it work

02:53for the 21st century.

02:56Local authorities will have to review their greenbelt if needed to meet housing targets,

03:01but they'll also need to prioritise low-quality greybelt land, for which we are setting out

03:06a definition today.

03:08And where land in the greenbelt is developed, new golden rules will require provision of

03:1350% affordable housing, with a focus on social rent, as well as schools, GP surgeries and

03:22transport links that communities need, and improvements to accessible green space.

03:28And let's not forget, Mr Speaker, that this was the previous government's haphazard approach

03:34to building on the greenbelt that has seen so many of the wrong homes built in the wrong

03:39places without local services that people need.

03:42Under Labour, this will change.

03:47Now Mr Speaker, increasing supply is of course essential to improving affordability, but

03:53we must also go further in building genuinely affordable homes, and part of this must come

04:00from developers.

04:02And the Housing Minister will be meeting with major developers later to ensure that

04:06they commit to matching our pace of reform.

04:09But an active, mission-led government must also play its role.

04:15This is why today I'm calling on local authorities, housing associations and industry to work

04:20with me to deliver a council house revolution.

04:25Mr Speaker, this isn't just a nice add-on, it is vital to getting the 1.5 million homes

04:32built, because we know that schemes with a large amount of affordable housing are likely

04:37to be completed faster.

Category

Transcript

Recommended