Starmer promises ‘new generation’ of new towns in ‘big build’

Labour would hand “planning passports” to developers to build a “new generation” of large towns and suburbs, if elected to government. In his keynote speech at the Labour Party Conference later today, Sir Keir Starmer will put building homes at the heart of his election promises, with plans for a “big build” that will create “entirely new, large-scale housing settlements”, along with Georgian-style townhouses in urban areas and a string of new towns. Under the plans to be outlined by the Labour leader, the new towns would be developed by state-backed companies with compulsory purchase powers. The amount that landowners can charge for the land would be capped, to free cash for local amenities. Doctors’ surgeries, schools, transport links and other infrastructure would be “hardwired” into the plans, Starmer will say. Labour will run a six-month consultation to identify suitable sites for new towns with potential for high economic growth and “areas with significant unmet housing need”. Developers would be given “planning passports” to build on brownfield land if they met the new design standards, with a “stronger presumption in favour of permission”. Guidance would specify a focus on “gentle urban development” emulating five-storey townhouses built during the 18th and 19th centuries. Starmer will also say that Labour would allow low-quality green belt, such as scrubland and car parks, to be released for development. The party has branded the areas “grey belt” and would require half of any homes built on them to be sold at affordable prices. He will also pledge the biggest expansion of devolution since Labour was last in power, with councils and combined authorities handed more control over housing and planning, skills, energy and transport of the kind currently held by London, the West Midlands and Greater Manchester. Under those plans, groups of local councils would be handed Whitehall department-style funding settlements for housing investment, bringing together existing schemes and picking their own priorities in areas such as affordable housing, brownfield remediation and regeneration. Mayors would get more control of strategic planning in their areas, while local authorities would be able to keep more of the money they raised through additional development, including residential and commercial sites. The Times (£)The FT (£)The Guardian Photo by Michael Bowles/Shutterstock (13423767aj)