Sunak commits to building 1m homes

Prime minister Rishi Sunak has committed to his government meeting its manifesto pledge to build 1m homes during this parliament. Sunak said that rather than concreting over the countryside, the government would focus on prioritising building in inner-city areas where demand is highest and growth is being constrained. This includes a new urban quarter in Cambridge which will unlock the city’s full potential as a source of innovation and talent. Sunak said: “We need to keep going because we want more people to realise the dream of owning their own home. We won’t do that by concreting over the countryside – our plan is to build the right homes where there is the most need and where there is local support, in the heart of Britain’s great cities. “Our reforms today will help make that a reality, by regenerating disused brownfield land, streamlining planning process and helping homeowners to renovate and extend their houses outwards and upwards.” Michael Gove, secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities, said: “Most people agree that we need to build more homes – the question is how we go about it. Rather than concreting over the countryside, we have set out a plan today to build the right homes in the right places where there is community support – and we are putting the resources behind it to help make this vision a reality. “At the heart of this is making sure that we build beautiful and empower communities to have a say in the development in their area.” The government said it would also take steps to unblock the bottlenecks in the planning system that are choking and slowing down development and stopping growth and investment. It will launch a £24m planning skills delivery fund to clear backlogs and get the right skills in place, and create a new “super-squad” team of leading planners and other experts charged with working across the planning system to unblock major housing developments. Developers will also be asked to contribute more through fees, to help support a higher quality, more efficient planning service, while new flexibility to convert shops, takeaways and betting shops into homes will be brought in to help to rejuvenate the high street. Red tape will be cut to enable barn conversions and the repurposing of agricultural buildings and disused warehouses, said the government, with new freedoms to extend homes, convert lofts and renovate new buildings brought in to help to convert existing properties into new accommodation. A review into the extension of permitted development rights will make it easier for homeowners to build upwards and outwards – with new extensions and loft conversions – while ensuring neighbours’ interests are protected. A new Office for Place will also be launched today to “lead a design revolution” and ensure local people have a say in how housing is designed, with a consultation on reforming local plans to make them simpler, shorter and more visual to be launched shortly. The proposed changes were first revealed over the weekend. To send feedback, e-mail samantha.mcclary@eg.co.uk or tweet @samanthamcclary or @EGPropertyNews See also: Government commits £1.6bn to housing initiatives Photo by Wiktor Szymanowicz/Shutterstock (14014859c)