Sir Keir Starmer will seize control of house-building rules to get desperate wannabe homeowners on property ladder
SIR Keir Starmer will today seize control of house-building rules to get desperate wannabe homeowners on the property ladder.
The PM will ride roughshod over local planners who stand in the way of his target of building 370,000 new homes a year.
He will give town halls just three months to form blueprints for hitting new, centrally imposed mandatory house-building targets.
The thresholds, which will be confirmed today, require England’s most unaffordable areas to take on the most development.
Sir Keir has vowed the move will ensure working families can fulfil the “dream of home ownership”.
Councils will be ordered to build on an area of greenbelt land larger than Surrey.
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The PM will expand the definition of the “grey belt” to unlock sites previously designated as untouchable.
And he will give local authorities more power to ensure developments include a “premium level” of social and affordable housing.
All new-builds will be guided by golden rules requiring developers to ensure homes come with necessary infrastructure, including nurseries, GP surgeries and transport.
A £100million cash injection will help pay to improve council planning departments, as well as funding 300 new planning officers, to speed up the construction process.
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And Nimby town hall chiefs who frequently block new homes will see proposals bypass their desks and be sent to Whitehall for approval.
Sir Keir said: “We’re taking action to make the dream of home ownership a reality through delivering 1.5million homes by the next parliament and rebuilding Britain to deliver for working people.
“This will build growth and boost living standards across the country.”
Shadow Housing Secretary Kevin Hollinrake said: “Labour will bulldoze through concerns of communities.”
