PRESS RELEASE : Our plan to build more homes [July 2024]
The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 30 July 2024.
New targets will boost housebuilding in areas most in need.
We’re overhauling our housing system to meet the needs of working people and put communities first.
Our plan will include introducing mandatory planning targets to aim to deliver on our ambition to build 1.5 million new homes over the next five years.
The new targets will boost housebuilding in areas most in need, to help more people buy their own homes, and help drive growth – making everyone in the country better off.
Bringing back mandatory housing targets
As part of our plan, we will update the National Planning Policy Framework to bring back mandatory housing targets and set a higher expectation for how many homes must be built.
Our new housing targets will make sure local authorities plan for the homes that are proportionate to the size of existing communities, with an uplift in areas where house prices are the most out of step with local incomes.
Our approach also includes making clear our expectation that all authorities have up-to-date Local Plans, meaning they will be required to plan for the number of homes their communities need, so local people can engage in how, not if, homes are built.
This plan will set us on a course to reach our target of 1.5 million new homes, driving growth and creating wealth in local communities.
What is the National Planning Policy Framework?
The National Planning Policy Framework sets out the government’s planning policies for England and how these should be applied.
That includes policy on proposals affecting the green belt and the circumstances where there could be development on land within the green belt.
If local authorities can’t meet their housing targets, they will need to look to brownfield land in the green belt and their grey belt, prioritising land near stations and existing settlements.
Green belt development will be held to higher standards with new “golden rules”, including that half of the homes built must be affordable.
What are our golden rules?
Grey belt sites will only be built on if they meet the Government’s ‘golden rules’ that half of homes are affordable, the plans enhance the local environment and the necessary infrastructure is in place, such as schools and GP surgeries.
Making it easier to build digital infrastructure
We’ll also make it easier to build laboratories, digital infrastructure, and gigafactories to make batteries for electric vehicles.
To deliver this, we’ll update our National Planning Policy Framework, requiring local authorities to identify sites to meet the needs of a modern economy.
Our long-term plan for housing
Our Planning and Infrastructure Bill will include measures to speed up the delivery of high-quality homes and infrastructure.
And we are committed to delivering the biggest boost to affordable and social housing in a generation.
We will also build the next generation of new towns. Built where they will deliver for local people and unlock economic growth, the New Towns programme will deliver much-needed quality and genuinely affordable housing.
