‘How’, not ‘if’: Labour will jump start planning to build 1.5 million homes and save the dream of homeownership

Labour Leader Keir Starmer today pledged to get Britain building again and save the dream of homeownership for younger people when he announced a transformational package of reforms to the planning system to build 1.5 million homes over the next Parliament.

The plan includes:

• A housing recovery plan; a blitz of planning reform to quickly boost housebuilding to buy and rent and deliver the biggest boost to affordable housing in a generation, enhancing local voice on ‘how’ housing is built with communities confident plans will be delivered
• The next generation of ‘new towns’; new communities with beautiful homes, green spaces, reliable transport links and bustling high streets
• Unleashing Mayors; a package of devolution to Mayors, with stronger powers over planning and control over housing investment
• ‘Planning passport’ for urban brownfield development; with a fast track approval and delivery of high-density housing on urban brownfield sites
• First dibs for first time buyers; supporting younger people the first chance at homes in new housing developments with a government-backed mortgage guarantee scheme.

The Conservative government has allowed planning permissions to collapse to a record low because they are too weak to stand up to their backbenchers, members, and cronies whose interests are best served by limiting the supply of housing to buy and rent.

Planning permissions have dropped to their lowest on record, and by the time of the next general election, new home completions are forecast to have dropped to as little as 160,000 per year.

Meanwhile, two thirds of local planning authorities do not have an up-to-date local plan, with this number set to fall even lower as councils pause plans due to the chaos.

Without urgent action, we face a generation locked out of homeownership. Since 2010, there are already half a million fewer young homeowners. Meanwhile, millions are stuck in expensive, poor quality and insecure rented housing.

Labour today announced an immediate blitz of planning reform delivered in their first days and weeks in office to rescue the housing system from the chaos of the Tories.

Labour’s plans will enhance local communities power and voice over ‘how’ housing is built to best service local people, while challenging those who question ‘if’ homes the homes people need should be built at all.

A Labour Government would work with local authorities to quickly draw up and agree local plans that have stalled, recruiting hundreds of extra planners in a ‘sprint’ to agree new plans, as announced by the Shadow Chancellor.  

Labour will also strengthen requirements to approve new homes in areas that do not have an up-to-date plan and will intervene to approve new homes in poorly performing areas, including using call-in powers in the most extreme cases.

Labour will also deliver the biggest boost to affordable house building in a generation, with as announced by the Deputy Leader Angela Rayner reforms to Section 106 agreements and added flexibility in the Affordable Homes Programme.

Notes

Labour’s Housing Recovery Plan

Upon entering office, the Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Angela Rayner, will publish a Written Ministerial Statement and write to all Chief Planning Officers to instruct local planning authorities to approve planning applications in areas which do not have a local plan and fail other key policy tests, such as the Housing Delivery Test.

This Statement will also signpost changes to the National Planning Policy Framework which will reverse concessions the Government made to Tory backbenchers in December 2022, reinstate and enforce compulsory local targets.

The Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves has announced they would increase planning capacity – ensuring every local authority has at least one full time, experienced planning officer and expanding the government’s strategic planning capacity for housing and infrastructure – funded by increasing stamp duty on overseas buyers.

Where local authorities don’t meet their requirements, a Labour government would work with the Planning Inspectorate to use all powers available to build homes, with interventions ranging from mediation to worst case scenarios that may require use of ‘call-in’ powers or see local planning authorities designated.

As announced by Angela Rayner, increasing flexibility in the Affordable Homes Programme so Homes England can support build out of the increasing number of ‘stalled’ sites with planning permission, but that are no longer viable due to soaring interest rates and economic uncertainty. 

As well as clearing the backlog, Labour will reform the system to accelerate planning permissions while strengthening local consent on ‘how’ developments can best support local communities, not ‘if’ the homes that people need are built at all. This will put the local plan front and centre in the planning system and create a genuinely plan-led system.

Labour will strengthen the presumption in favour of developments that are aligned to local plans, with a lighter touch process for approval in line with plans and, where criteria are met, a strong community right to appeal against off-plan and speculative development.

We will increase transparency, monitoring and enforcement of requirements to maintain up to date local plans with fixed timelines for renewing local plan. We will also introduce a ‘backstop’ option allowing central government or the Planning Inspectorate to draw up local plans where they are significantly and egregiously delayed.

Under our new streamlined system, we will lowering the thresholds for applications being made directly to the Planning Inspectorate to reflect the fact that decision making should be smoother.

We will give planning officers stronger authority to grant permission on smaller sites that are in line with the plan, without referring to the planning committee, and define in guidance that pre-application advice by officers is a material consideration to the planning decision, and a ‘cooling off’ period where Members go against officers’ recommendations.

We will provide guidance on off-the-shelf environmental mitigations which cut down on endless surveys and halt the vexatious frustration of applications.

In addition to increasing planning capacity by raising stamp duty on overseas buyer, Labour will accelerate the government’s plan to increase planning application fees, and potentially going further, with revenue ringfenced for more planning resource.

We will also make HM Land Registry data publicly available to increase transparency of land ownership, preventing landowners from holding a de facto veto over local plans due to an opaque land market.

Labour’s 5-point Housing Recovery Plan in short:

• Reversing changes to the National Planning Policy Framework announced in December 2022, reinstating compulsory local targets, strengthening requirements to maintain a deliverable supply of housing land and the presumption in favour of sustainable development.
• A Written Ministerial Statement with legal force strengthening requirements to approve homes, stating we expect authorities without up-to-date plans and if they fail key policy tests.
• Intervening where local authorities don’t meet our expectations, ranging from mediation with the Planning Inspectorate, to use of ‘call-in’ and designation powers.
• As announced by the Shadow Chancellor, increasing capacity of LPAs, hiring hundreds of new planners to agree local plans, paid for by increasing tax on purchase of residential property by foreign buyers, and greater use of Planning Performance Agreements on large sites.
• As announced by Angela Rayner, increasing flexibility in the Affordable Homes Programme so Homes England can support build out of ‘stalled’ sites with planning permission with more social and affordable housing, and reforms to the Section 106 agreements.

 Next generation of new towns

• A Labour government will build on our proud post-war history and bring forward the next generation of new towns for the next generation of homeowners.
• Our new towns will be vibrant new communities, with beautiful homes, green spaces, reliable transport links and bustling high streets.
• The Secretary of State for Levelling-up, Housing and Communities will publish a set of principles for identifying sites, looking for areas that are around busy transport hubs, in areas of very high housing need and avoiding nature spots or important green spaces.
• We will open bidding for local leaders to bid for sites on the basis of these principles.
• We will also task DLHUC with devising some broad ‘heat maps’ of areas suitable based on these principles, using the latest spatial data from across different departments and agencies.
• Within six months, we will work in partnership with local leaders to designate a handful of sites across the country for development as new towns.
• We will designate New Town Development Corporations for these sites, with equal representation from local government and central government.
• The development corporation will take on planning powers for the site and will also have the power to compulsorily purchase land with limited ‘hope’ value.
• In many areas, permissioned land can be worth hundreds of times more than agricultural land, and like previous new towns, it’s the combination of these powers that allow for significant land value capture to fund delivery of infrastructure and housing.    
• We will require our new towns to actively seek private sector investors, with the vast majority of the up-front investment coming private backers.
• They will be attractive investment products, generating stable and diverse income streams; sales of freeholds, rental income from housing, residential and commercial ground rents and public transport fares.
• Early infrastructure delivery may require some support from existing government programmes and we would expect development corporations to bid from existing budgets and programmes, such as the UK Infrastructure Bank.

‘Fast track’ Brownfield provision

• We are proposing a series of changes to national planning policy to accelerate and intensify brownfield development in our cities, building on the ‘brownfield first’ policy introduced by New Labour.
• This includes:

o   A new National Development Management Policy (NDMP) to supplement existing national policy prioritising brownfield development, requiring local plans to set density standards for appropriate sites around transport notes, with stronger presumptions in favour of brownfield development where plans are not up to date.

o   A new requirement to update brownfield registers annually and make them publicly available, helping investors quickly identify opportunities for long-term regeneration.

o   Accelerating approval for smaller brownfield sites, with councils required to allocate smaller brownfield sites and exploring ‘permission in principle’ if these sites have high levels of affordable housing.

o   ‘Opportunity areas’ for long term regeneration, giving clear signals to investors about complex sites identified for regeneration in areas with Strategic Development Frameworks.

o   Redirect Homes England to unlock complex sites, supported by Metro Mayors.

Labour will help first-time buyers onto the ladder with a new, comprehensive mortgage guarantee scheme and ‘first dibs’ on newly built homes

Labour will introduce a state-backed mortgage insurance scheme, with the state acting as guarantor for prospective homeowners who struggle to save for a large deposit. This will be modelled on similar successful schemes in other countries, such as Canada and Australia.

Numerous analyses have found a large group of middle-income renters in stable employment who are locked out of homeownership and stuck in expensive rented accommodation. Banks are now requesting very large deposits, with government’s own analysis showing saving for a deposit is “the largest hurdle for most prospective home buyers.”

We will also ensure that first-time buyers can access homes that are built, by giving them first dibs on small portions of new developments in some areas.

Achieving rental reform to make renting safe, secure and affordable

It is now nearly four and a half years since the Tories promised to abolish ‘no fault’ Section 21 evictions. Hard pressed private renters are crying out for a change in the law to give them greater security and better rights, yet this zombie government has sat on its hands, in hock to vested interests on the Tory benches. A Labour government would get the job done.