Reeves aims to unlock 14,000 homes with taskforce to tackle ‘stalled’ sites

The initial focus will be on schemes at Liverpool Central Docks; Worcestershire Parkway; Northstowe in Cambridgeshire; and Langley Sutton Coldfield in the West Midlands, she said. 

The sites represent “more than” 14,000 homes, the chancellor said. 

Ms Reeves also confirmed plans to reform the National Planning Policy Framework.

This will include restoring mandatory housing targets for local authorities as part of a “growth-focused approach” to the planning system, she said. A consultation will be launched “before the end of the month”, Ms Reeves said. 

However she later clarified that it will still be up to “local communities and local authorities” to decide where housing is built “in the first instance”. But she added that by bringing back targets “the answer cannot always be ‘no’.”

An extra 300 planning officers will be recruited to help councils, Ms Reeves also confirmed. 

Rishi Sunak’s government effectively ditched mandatory housing targets in late 2022 as he said they “weren’t a particularly Conservative thing to do” and failed to recognise “all parts of our country are different”. 

In her speech today, Ms Reeves also outlined how housing secretary Angela Rayner will intervene to drive up homebuilding.

Ms Rayner, who was confirmed in her role on Friday, will write to councils “making clear what is expected to them” which will include reviewing green belt boundaries. 

“These will prioritise brownfield and grey belt land for development to meet housing targets when needed,” Ms Reeves said. 

Labour has vowed to target development on so-called ‘grey belt’ land, which is unattractive green belt land, such as disused car parks. 

“Our golden rules will make sure that the development this frees up will allow us to deliver the thousands of affordable homes soon, including more for social rent,” Ms Reeves said. 

Labour has set a target for 1.5 million homes to be built over the course of the parliament, but has yet to specify the tenure mix it would want to see delivered. 

Ms Reeves said today that affordable housing, including housing for social rent, is an “important part of that mix”. 

She later added: “We’re not going to let people off the hook. We want affordable housing and we want housing for social rent as well.” 

The chancellor also confirmed that the new government will ban so-called no-fault evictions, as promised, to help those in the private rented sector. 

Earlier in her speech, in an appeal to the business community, she argued that investors and companies had spent 14 years doubting whether Britain was a “safe” place to invest. 

But she added: “After 14 years, Britain has a stable government. A government that respects business, wants to partner with business and is open for business. In an uncertain world, Britain is a place to do business.”

Ms Reeves confirmed she would deliver her first Budget “later this year”, but declined to confirm a date at this stage. It is expected to be in the autumn.