The Labour Party has pledged to reintroduce housing targets and build new towns as part of its plans to deliver 1.5 million homes over the next five years to address the UK’s housing crisis.
In a speech at the UKREiiF conference in Leeds, Angela Rayner MP, Labour’s deputy leader and shadow housing secretary, said the location of these towns would be unveiled by the end of a Labour government’s first year in power.
Rayner said the “gummed up” planning system had contributed to the stifled delivery of new homes in recent years.
“I am sure you all know better than most that getting applications over the line can be like swimming through treacle and it’s absolutely right that local people get a say, but a failing system is not in the local or national interest,” she said. “Fewer than 70,000 planning applications were approved in the last quarter of 2023, the worst period on record, with fewer developments green-lit than during the height of the pandemic. Getting shovels in the ground is crucial.”
Rayner continued: “The majority of developers are on the same page, eager to work in partnership with government to unlock housebuilding. That requires an active central government”.
With its new towns policy Rayner said the Labour Party was taking inspiration from the 1945 Labour government “that built homes for heroes out of the ruins of war”.
She pledged that as secretary of state she would empower “regional and local leaders to deliver, as Labour councils and the mayor do here in West Yorkshire”.
To ensure homes would be built on these new town sites within the first term of a Labour government, Rayner said the party would establish an “expert independent taskforce” to help choose the right sites and create new settlements “where people want to live.”
The party would also establish a new towns code for these settlements which require more social and affordable homes, with the “gold standard” being 40% affordable.
During her speech Rayner also pledged to ban no fault evictions and give first-time buyers “first dibs” on new developments in their communities, with a comprehensive mortgage guarantee scheme for those “who don’t have access to the bank of mum and dad”.
She said a Labour government would also end the “mediaeval leasehold system” with “root and branch” reform.
Responding to the speech, Melanie Leech, chief executive of the British Property Federation, said: “The country desperately needs new homes of all tenures, and new towns are one of many tools that we have to deploy simultaneously to tackle the housing crisis. This commitment from Labour to build at scale whilst protecting the important ideals of high quality design and social and environmental sustainability is welcome.
“They are also right to focus on the importance of ensuring that critical infrastructure is in place – including the warehousing and logistics facilities that support modern life. Whoever wins the next election will have to not just think big but be bold in their actions too – and this is an encouraging sign of that ambition.”
Anthony Aitken, head of planning at Colliers, added: “We welcome the commitment from a potential new Labour government to start to address the housing crisis. Bold plans for new towns will be one key component in what is required to provide a comprehensive and multi-faceted plan to deliver the homes that the country so desperately requires.
“The scale and ambition of new towns with the level of infrastructure required, mean that in practical terms they offer a long term solution to meeting housing need, in a time range of 10 to 25 years, as was evident from the creation of Milton Keynes, East Kilbride and Skelmersdale in the 1960s, each now providing homes, employment and community requirements.
“However, Labour need to continue to be bold to meet the immediate and shorter term housing needs of the country, not just in a first term, but also looking beyond an initial five year term. They should provide a mandatory target for new homes nationally, with each local authority being compelled to meet their housing need, undertake mandatory green belt reviews and the re-introduction of strategic planning. Ultimately, they need to ensure that infrastructure physical and social is provided, and maintained, at a regional level to reflect the scale of development required, especially in south east England.”
