Thousands more houses could be built near transport hubs including on green belt sites
8m agoHousebuilding near train stations will be given 'default yes' under new planning changes
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics. Thousands more homes could be built within 10 minutes of transport hubs, including on green belt sites, as part of changes to government planning rules in England.
Under the government’s new National Planning Policy Framework, which you can read in full here, there will be default approval for homes being built around railway stations in a bid to increase housebuilding numbers. There will also be new minimum expectations for how much housing should be built in these areas.
Ministers have pledged to build 1.5m new homes by 2029 – but this target will fall short on the current trajectory, with the government about a quarter of the way to its target, two years into a five-year parliament. We have not been told what areas will be targeted in the new housebuilding drive, but the i reports that one key criteria is that nearby rail stations can run a minimum of four trains per hour into a large urban area.
The plans risk a backlash from campaigners who want to see greenbelt areas protected.
Asked whether the “default yes” approach to planning approval would apply to greenbelt land, the housing minister, Matthew Pennycook, confirmed to Sky News this morning: “For well-connected stations outside of settlements, including the greenbelt, that default policy applies.”
Asked about concerns this may raise, he said:
It may cause some concern, but as I’ve said many, many times, we know there is not enough land on brownfield land registers across the country, so previously developed land, to deliver the volumes of homes our country needs each year, at least those that are viable and in the right location. So, in exceptional circumstances, greenbelt land should be developed on. We’ve got a sequential approach for how we judge the lower quality land to come forward in the first instance.
It may cause some concern, but as I’ve said many, many times, we know there is not enough land on brownfield land registers across the country, so previously developed land, to deliver the volumes of homes our country needs each year, at least those that are viable and in the right location.
So, in exceptional circumstances, greenbelt land should be developed on. We’ve got a sequential approach for how we judge the lower quality land to come forward in the first instance.
Reform UK’s deputy leader Richard Tice said the changes, which come into effect from today, undermine the government’s devolution agenda.
“Far from empowering local councils who actually know their communities, they strip power from the people who live there and hand it to Whitehall so ministers can ram through major housing developments while sidelining residents and ignoring the infrastructure that already can’t cope,” he said.
James Cleverly, the shadow housing secretary, said: “To try to fix their own mess, Labour are planning a power grab, seizing control from local communities and forcing them to accept development in the wrong areas because Labour won’t build in the right areas. Labour’s planning power grab is exposing our green belt and countryside to unauthorised Traveller sites, and ministers are turning a blind eye.”
The new national planning policy framework is aimed at providing clearer national policies for plan-making and decision-making, meaning that conflicting local policies will carry less weight when they are inconsistent with national policies.
Stronger support in principle for development, meaning a more explicit presumption in favour of building in sustainable locations.
Pubs will get protection from being turned into housing or offices with developers having to prove there is no reasonable prospect of keeping a pub as a going concern, including evidence that it was marketed for sale for at least a year.
A requirement for at least 40% of homes to be accessible on bigger developments and stronger protections for community facilities.
Stronger support for growth and infrastructure including support for AI growth zones and datacentres.
