Housing Minister Steve Reed has said he expected to be held to account over the government’s stated ambitions to build 1.5m homes in this Parliament. The commitment was part of the Labour party’s manifesto and is frequently cited as part of the government’s ‘plan for change.’ In a Panorama interview aired on BBC Reed said ‘my job should be on the line if I fail to meet my target.’
The target represents a 50% uplift on current housebuilding volumes, with an additional 100,000 homes needed per year over and above the current 200,000 built annually – the largest investment in home building since the 1960’s. Another issue Panorama highlights is the lack of resource to deliver these additional homes; with the Home Builders Federation estimating the industry needs around 250,000 more people to deliver on the target.
The government’s landmark ‘Planning and Infrastructure Bill’ recently underwent some last minutes amendments in its efforts to get through the Houses of Parliament. Ministers will be given new ‘call-in’ powers to prevent planning applications being rejected by issuing holding directions to local councils. Builders will also receive ‘a helping hand’ to stop planning permissions timing out on approved housing projects subject to judicial review, building on existing measures to cut back ‘meritless legal challenges’ for major infrastructure projects and reducing the statutory pre-consultation period by a year. Other proposed measures include enabling non-water sector companies to build reservoirs, creating more onshore windfarms, and streamlining Natural England’s role by reducing duplication and allowing greater discretion to focus on applications that pose higher risks or present stronger opportunities for nature recovery, with standard guidance provided to local authorities for straightforward cases.
These changes, alongside reductions in the number of legal challenges and investment in infrastructure are designed to speed up the planning process.
And there are other issues at play. Panorama suggest a third of local councils do not have an up to date local plan, according to the Planning Inspectorate. There are accusations of big housebuilders are maximising profits by hoarding planning permission for up to a million new homes while releasing poor-quality properties to market. There is a shortage of planning officers. All of which contributes to the lowest number of new build planning permissions following ten successive quarters of decline according to the Home Builders Federation.
Contributors to Panorama paint a similar picture. Despite efforts to change the planning system, Professor Paul Cheshire, Emeritus Professor at the London School of Economics and a previous advisor to government on planning policy said it would take years for the changes to planning policy to have an impact. He added there was ‘no way’ the government would build 1.5m new homes by 2029 describing it as like ‘turning a tanker round’ and it will take time for the reforms to take effect.
Dr Abi O’Connor, urban sociologist at the University of Sheffield adds while the current process for house building is a ‘developer led model’ profit will always be chosen over the needs of the people. It’s a sentiment Neil Jefferson, chief executive of the House Builders Federation, rejects saying most private organisations are driven by growth and the house building industry will ‘build homes if there are buyers there.’ But he acknowledged the target ‘looks increasingly distant’ as house building ‘flatlines’ at 200,000 homes being built per year.
Panorama: The Race to build 1.5 million homes is on BBC iPlayer.
