The Department of Housing has launched a consultation on reforms to the planning system in order to progress the Labour Government’s target of 1.5 million homes over five years, against new mandatory local building targets.

The Secretary of State for Housing, Angela Rayner, said that the revised National Planning Policy Framework will restore “mandatory housing targets” on a local basis, and “set a higher expectation for how many homes must be built.” She said the plans would facilitate building 370,000 homes per year.

The Department’s statement said the new targets “will boost housebuilding in the areas most in need, to help more people buy their own homes and help drive growth.”

The consultation on the NPPF will define the new “grey belt” designation for “low quality” sections of former green belt, including a set of ‘golden rules’ for those developments. Under the new grey belt rules, developers would need to provide 50% affordable housing, “increase access to green spaces,” and “put the necessary infrastructure in place, such as schools and GP surgeries.”

The Government statement said that grey belt land “includes land on the edge of existing settlements or roads, as well as old petrol stations and car parks,” and that “where 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.” It added: “In all cases, land that is safeguarded for environmental reasons will continue to be protected.”

Section 106 arrangements would be “strengthened, so that developers don’t try and squeeze out of what has been promised,” said Rayner. In addition, developments would “prioritise land near stations and existing settlements.”

Rayner admitted that the changes “would not be without controversy, but we aren’t afraid to take it on.” She said that the industry would only be achieving up to 200,000 homes in 2024, and that local views should dictate “how to build, not whether to build” under the new arrangements.

Rayner said that each local authority needed to have a local plan, but that a “more strategic system for green belt release” was required, although brownfield sites “remain the first port of call.” She said the Government was planning a “council house revolution,” and that local authorities would be given “more flexibility for borrowing investment,” with more details to follow in the Autumn Spending Review.

Minister for Housing Matthew Pennycook was due to meet major housebuilders to discuss the changes soon after Rayner’s announcement of the consultation. However Rayner asserted: “We will not be deterred by those who stand in our way.”