Labour would give local areas the power to build houses on the green belt where development would not take away from the beauty of the countryside, the party leader has said.
Sir Keir Starmer signalled on Wednesday that reforms such as allowing for some development of green belt land would be introduced should his party win at the next general election.
The green belt refers to the policy of leaving an area of land around a city or town undeveloped or set aside for agricultural use to prevent urban sprawl.
Under planning rules in England, building on the green belt is generally not allowed unless in exceptional circumstances.
‘Tough Choices’
The opposition leader told “BBC Breakfast,” “We would make those tough choices and say to local areas: notwithstanding that it is the green belt, if it is a car park or similar land which doesn’t affect the beauty of our countryside, which we all want to preserve, then we’ll change the planning rules, we’ll give you the planning powers to do that.”He vowed to take on “vested interests” to unlock land for housing developments in a move he argued could bring down house prices.
Speaking to Times Radio, Starmer said developers and landowners are holding on to real estate as they “try to ensure that it gains as much value as possible.”
He added: “We want to change that model and make sure that many more houses are built, and that the price comes down.
Planning Reform
Addressing the British Chambers of Commerce later on Wednesday, Starmer vowed Labour would “take on planning reform.”He said, “There are 38 countries in the OECD, and we are the second worst when it comes to the effectiveness of our planning system.”
He accused Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of “burying his head in the sand on this issue.”
He said: “There’s nothing that reeks more of decline than the idea that this country no longer knows how to build things. So mark my words: we will take on planning reform. We will bring back local housing targets.
“We’ll streamline the process for national infrastructure projects and commercial development and we’ll remove the veto used by big landowners to stop shovels hitting the ground.
‘Confused’
In response to Starmer’s comments, Downing Street insisted the prime minister is committed to housebuilding.A No. 10 spokesman said: “The prime minister is committed to building new homes. But he also wants to ensure that we protect the green belt and we encourage people to use brownfield sites where possible.”
Meanwhile, Housing Secretary Michael Gove wrote to the Labour leader asking him a series of questions about his plans.
The Cabinet minister wrote: “Your shadow Cabinet colleagues with constituencies in England regularly oppose development, including in their own areas. At the last count, more than three quarters of them had been blockers not builders. Is this not a case of do as I say but not as I do?
“Your shadow housing secretary, Lisa Nandy, opposed building on the green belt in her own constituency. Has she changed her mind, and does she agree with your new policy?”
Gove also accused the opposition leader of a “confused” approach to housing.
He asked whether the Labour Party’s mantra is still “council housing, council housing, council housing,” despite apparently not mentioning it in the House of Commons, and whether the commitment to make social housing the “second largest tenure” was an unfunded spending commitment.
