Reed says ‘job on the line’ over 1.5m housing target as experts warn meeting it unlikely

Housing Secretary Steve Reed said his job should be given “lip service” because of his commitment to build 1.5 million new homes in England; but two leading experts told BBC Panorama that the government appeared unlikely to meet its target.

Prof Paul Cheshire, who has advised previous governments on planning policy, said there was “absolutely no way” this could be successful.

Meanwhile, Neil Jefferson of the Home Builders Federation, which represents private housebuilders, warned that the government’s target “looks increasingly distant”.

But Reed insisted he would “absolutely” hit the target, telling Panorama that widespread skepticism once he achieved it would make “the celebration even sweeter.”

The promise to build houses over the next Parliament, which runs until 2029, was a cornerstone of Labour’s manifesto.

“If I don’t reach my goal, my job is in jeopardy,” Reed said. “I expect to be held accountable”

But Mr Jefferson said Panorama home construction had “flattened” at about 200,000 new homes a year, rather than the 300,000 a year the target calls for.

He said a cumbersome planning process, environmental regulations and skills shortages, among other issues, were affecting the industry’s construction rates.

Many major or controversial planning applications are currently decided by elected local councilors on planning committees, rather than by trained council planning officers.

This means that national priorities, such as building more homes, often clash with local opposition.

Councils are also required to adopt a “local plan”, a document outlining where development should take place and how it will be aligned with national policy. These plans can help facilitate planning approvals; If a proposal fits the plan, permission should be sought unless there is a strong reason to reject it.

This means that these documents are controversial and can often face fierce local opposition.

Less than a third of councils in England currently have an up-to-date local plan, according to the Planning Inspectorate.

But Reed told Panorama the government will soon force councils to adopt a local plan.

Under the proposed changes, councils would be required to produce a plan within 30 months of the start of the process, rather than the current average seven-year period.

The government has also announced it will increase funding and training to assist planning authorities with their plans.

Reed insisted government reforms would help developers build more homes, including mandating new housebuilding targets on councils and giving him “more powers” to call or review housing development plans that are “unreasonably” rejected.

The government has also proposed reforming the rules around protected green belt land, which makes up 12.5% ​​of land in England.

The first green belt was created in the 1930s to prevent cities from expanding into rural areas. However, today there are intensive agricultural units, industrial buildings, quarries and golf courses in many parts of the green belt.

The government introduced a new concept called “grey belt”. The aim is to make it easier for green belt lands that are considered to be of poor quality or that have been built on, to obtain planning permission.

However, the government has left it up to each local authority to decide which areas locally qualify as gray belt.

Prof Cheshire, a former economist at the London School of Economics, said it was a missed opportunity: “If the gray belt had been legally defined as watertight… then it would have been cut and dried and lots of houses could have been built, but they haven’t.

“They left it up to the uncertainty of the planning system and therefore local lobbying and… it’s not going to happen,” he said.

The government’s reforms “won’t make much of a difference”, according to Prof Cheshire. He added, “It is absolutely impossible for us to build 1.5 million houses.”