Labour sets new homes target in planning overhaul

The government aims to build 370,000 new homes each year by reforming the planning system and mandatory local targets.

Labour's Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary, Angela Rayner has announced an overhaul of England's planning rules to help deliver their election promise of 1.5m new homes by 2029. To achieve this, local housing targets will become mandatory again.

The Housing Secretary told MPs the Government planned to oversee building of 370,000 homes every year, an increase of 70,000 from the figure Labour promised in the General Election.

She also laid out plans to make it easier to build on low-quality green belt land that will be reclassified as "grey belt". Admitting her plans “won’t be without controversy”, she said that the changes were required to make housing more affordable.

Angela Rayner said: “We have a housing crisis, and we all must play our part.”

The government has proposed that councils with green belt in their areas should review the boundaries if they cannot meet housing needs "through other means". The new guidance will mean that councils should reclassify previously developed land, or land that makes only a "limited contribution" towards goals such as protecting countryside and the special character of historic towns, as "grey belt".

Officials said they could not say what proportion of the green belt, which covers 12% of England's land area, would be reclassified, with the final amount depending on the choices made by local authorities.

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