Housing secretary Angela Rayner wants smaller housebuilders to pick up more of the slack when it comes to building homes.
Speaking at a visit to an Oxfordshire site in Didcot, the deputy prime minister said housebuilders who engage in land banking could be hit with a “delayed homes penalty”, or blocked from gaining future planning permission by councils.
She said: “Smaller house builders must be the bedrock of our Plan for Change to build 1.5 million homes and fix the housing crisis we’ve inherited – and get working people on the housing ladder.
“For decades the status quo has failed them and it’s time to level the playing field. Today we’re taking urgent action to make the system simpler, fairer and more cost effective, so smaller housebuilders can play a crucial role in our journey to get Britain building.”
Planning reforms will make it so trained planning officers will decide on developments of up to nine homes, rather than committees of elected councillors.
Biodiversity net gain rules could also be “streamlined”, something that’s drawn criticism from wildlife charities.
Rayner denied that the government is removing green protections, saying the process will be simplified but nature won’t be compromised.
She added: “We’re simplifying the process for houses if there’s under 10 houses built, and between 10 and 49.
“So we’re going to simplify that process. We’re going to put more expert planners on that process as well, but we won’t be compromising on nature,”
“So this is pragmatism, but we’ll be able to protect nature at the same time.”
Labour has a 1.5 million home target by the end of the parliament – a target few expect it to reach.
