The Green Party has called on Labour to explore a “better, fairer, greener way” to build homes after new Chancellor Rachel Reeves revealed mandatory housing targets and pledged to loosen planning rules.
Ms Reeves announced today that Labour will create a new taskforce “to accelerate stalled housing sites in our country” and promised the Government would build 1.5 million homes over the next five years.
She also revealed that a de facto ban on the construction of onshore wind farms in England had been scrapped, reversing measures brought by the Conservatives under David Cameron in 2015.
Adrian Ramsay, co-leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, said that while Labour was “correct to identify the housing crisis“, homes built today are unaffordable for too many people and “do not come with the services that every community needs”.
He also accused Labour of “writing blank cheques for profit-motivated developers” and called on the Government to ensure new infrastructure does not run roughshod over local communities, and helps Britain reach it net zero target as soon as possible.
The Greens have laid out 10 steps they say the new Labour government must take in its first 100 days in power, including bolstering renters’ rights and making solar panels compulsory on homes – and has vowed to pressure the party to deliver its plan.
Mr Ramsay said there need to be “ecologically sustainable homes for the future with good public transport links, and the access to GP surgeries and schools that every community needs to thrive”.
He added: “Labour is right to end the de facto ban on onshore wind, but the new infrastructure that will be required to help us get to net zero as soon as possible must not run roughshod over local communities.
“We need to take people with us as we transition to a new green economy. Green investment done the right way is a win for communities and the planet. That includes community ownership of new renewables.”
Labour says it will publish a new draft National Planning Policy Framework, laying out the precise details of its approach, before Parliament rises for recess in August.
Three hundred planning officers will be added to support local councils, and previously rejected planning applications that could benefit the economy will be reconsidered.
Brownfield and so called grey belt land (less desirable parts of the green belt) will be prioritised for development, and the planning system will be reformed to address unresolved infrastructure projects.
The party has said it will takes steps to ensure new homes are “high-quality, well-designed, and sustainable”. “We fully support the need for low-carbon homes and will review proposals and feedback from the future homes standard consultation in due course,” a government spokesperson added.
Labour is anticipating push back from so-called nimbys (not in my back yard) – a term for people who oppose new developments.
Ms Reeves said planning decisions will still “in the first instance” be up to local communities, but compulsory targets mean councils cannot always reject new developments.
The Chancellor said the new Housing Secretary Angela Rayner will also write to planning authorities making clear “what is expected” of them.
Mr Ramsay called on Labour to examine the Green’s “Right Homes, Right Place, Right Price” housing measures that lay out proposals to protect green space and build 150,000 social homes in Britain.
The measures would force local authorities to spread small developments across their areas and require new developments to be accompanied by extra investment in health transport and other services.
The Greens said Labour must follow its 10-point plan to show they’re serious about changing Britain, and that it will act as a “litmus test for the direction this government plans to travel”.
Among the measures highlighted include negotiating a pay deal with junior doctors, who have gone on strike multiple times in the past year over pay, that properly values their work.
It also is asking for the two-child benefit cap to be removed and for criminal charges to be brought against water companies who are behind repeated discharge of sewage into rivers and seas.
Discussing the steps, Greens’ co-leader and newly elected MP for Bristol Central, Carla Denyer, said: “Keir Starmer promised change. And so we’ve outlined a sketch of what immediate change looks like.
“These are issues where the public is demanding change and they are things this next Labour Government could, and should, deliver in their first 100 days.”
A government spokesperson said: “Our manifesto set out that we want exemplary development to be the norm, not the exception. We will take steps to ensure we are building more high-quality, well-designed, and sustainable homes.
“We fully support the need for low carbon homes and will review proposals and feedback from the Future Homes Standard consultation in due course.”