New targets to boost housebuilding are being set while the housing system is overhauled.

Apart from updating the National Planning Policy Framework, the government is bringing back mandatory housing targets, and setting a higher expectation for how many homes must be built

The government’s approach also includes making clear its 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, the homes are built. 

Currently just a third of councils have a plan that is under five years old, which is why the government has said it will step in where needed to drive progress, ensuring local areas get a say on how, but not if, homes are built.

Where local authorities do not have up-to-date plans in place or enable sufficient housing to come forward to meet local targets, homebuilders can bring forward proposals on grey belt land. In all cases, land that is safeguarded for environmental reasons will continue to be protected.   

The Deputy Prime Minister has written to every council Leader and Chief Executive in England to make clear that there is “not just a professional responsibility but a moral obligation to see more homes built”, and that she will not hesitate to use her powers of intervention should it be necessary – including taking over an authority’s plan making directly.   

The belief is that this plan will set the country on a course to reach the target of 1.5 million new homes, driving growth and creating wealth in local communities.

In addition to restoring mandatory housing targets, the method used to calculate them, which relied on decade-old data, will be updated. It will now require councils to ensure homes are built in the right places and development is proportionate to the size of existing communities, while adding an extra level of ambition in the most unaffordable areas.    

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.  

This includes policies on proposals affecting the green belt and the circumstances where development on land within the green belt could take place.

The government is adamant if local authorities are unable to meet their housing targets they are to look to brownfield land in the green and grey belts, prioritising land near stations and existing suburbs. 

The first port of call for development will be brownfield land. Reforms have been announced stipulating that the default answer to brownfield development should be “yes” and promoting homebuilding at greater densities in urban centres, like towns and cities.  

To help deliver 1.5 million homes over the next five years, councils are to review their green belt land if needed to meet their target while identifying and prioritising ‘grey belt’ land. This includes land on the edge of existing settlements or roads, as well as old petrol stations and car parks.   

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.

Alongside building housing the government is committed to making it easier to build key infrastructure such as laboratories, gigafactories, and data centres, as well as making changes to deliver more large onshore wind projects and solar development across the country.   

In addition to these reforms to the planning system, the government is also taking steps to deliver quality affordable social housing, working to reverse the continued decline in the number of social rent homes. This includes changes to the Right to Buy, and giving councils flexibility to use their receipts to build and buy more social homes. The government has started its review of the increased discounts introduced in 2012, with changes to be implemented in the Autumn.