Sector welcomes Labour’s planning overhaul and reintroduction of mandatory housing targets

Rachel Reeves’ plan to overhaul the planning system and reintroduce mandatory local housing targets has drawn a broadly positive response from major housing associations, local authorities and housebuilders.

The new chancellor this morning said the Labour government will by the end of this month publish a consultation on changing the National Planning Policy Framework.

Reeves has pledged to restore local housing targets, effectively scrapped under the Conservative government. She also said new housing secretary Angela Rayner will write to local authorities to make clear that local plans and green belt reviews are expected, with priority given to brownfield and so called “grey-belt” development.

Fiona Fletcher-Smith, chair of the G15 and chief executive of L&Q described reform of the planning system and the reinstatement of building targets as “positive moves” and said it is good the government now sees housing as an asset.

However, she added: “The private sector alone cannot deliver the homes London and the country need. Not-for-profit housing associations, with the right support, can play their role. To do this, we need the government to guarantee long-term rent certainty, allow access to the Building Safety Fund, and allocate the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund efficiently”

Clare Miller, group chief executive at Clarion Housing Group said the reintroduction of targets ”underlines Labour’s commitment to tackling the housing emergency head on”.

She said: “It is absolutely right that housing is recognised as a vital part of this country’s infrastructure. Safe, secure and affordable housing is the spring board for better health outcomes, better education outcomes and better employment outcomes.”

Geeta Nanda, chief executive of Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing, said today’s announcements are “positive first steps on what will be a long road to tackling the housing crisis.”

She said: “The government must work to build on the positive steps announced today by engaging with housing sector and ensuring the resources are in place to extend our capacity to deliver the homes, across a full range of tenures, which our nation so desperately needs’

John Glenton, executive director at Riverside, said: “No-one wants to see high-quality Green Belt land built upon, but we need to stop treating contaminated and low-quality Green Belt lands as if it’s the height of Helvellyn, although planning reform comes with its own set of challenges and might be as gruelling as climbing a mountain.

He added that planning reform however is not enough, saying “as public finances improve the government must also provide significant grant funding to deliver the social homes we need.”

The announcement was also welcomed by the Home Builders Federation (HBF).

Neil Jefferson, chief executive of the HBF, said: “The home building industry stands ready to support the chancellor’s ambitious plans for housing with investment, job creation and the new homes the country needs.

“As she identified, we can only build if we plan effectively and if councils take responsibility for the housing needs of their communities.”

Jefferson said the government needs to unblock the estimated 160,000 homes held up by nutrient neutrality rules and make it easier for first-time buyers to get on the housing ladder.

Jason Honeyman, chief executive of Bellway, welcomed the reforms. He said: “The ability of housebuilders to deliver new homes ultimately relies on having a planning system in place that is efficient, effective and adequately resourced.

In recent years, the challenges with the planning system has acted as a significant barrier to our sector.”

Louise Gittins, chair of the Local Government Association, said councils “stand ready to help the government achieve our shared ambitions to boost inclusive economic growth and housebuilding”.

Gittins said national growth can only be achieved if “every local economy is firing on all cylinders.”

However, Gittins warned housebuilding targets will need to take account of local circumstances. She said: “Across England there are more than a million homes allocated in local plans which are waiting to be taken up by developers. While these sites do not yet have planning permission, they have formally been identified as suitable for housing by councils.

 “Councils need the proper levers to deliver proposals that genuinely support a faster build-out of schemes.”

This was echoed by Richard Clewer, housing and planning spokesperson for the County Councils Network.

Clewer said: “A renewed push to deliver more homes to deliver economic growth is laudable.

“We await to see further details on housebuilding plans in the forthcoming revised National Planning Policy Framework, but national targets cannot be an effective substitute for local decision making. County and rural areas have overseen the building of 600,000 homes over the last five years, more than the rest of the country combined.

“With housing delivery lower in England’s areas, housing targets should not be overwhelmingly allocated, or re-allocated, to county and rural areas, and instead there should be a fair distribution of housing across England.”