Following the Labour Party winning the recent General Election, we take a quick look at their policies for Planning, Housing and Development, as it sits within their plans for economic growth.

Delivering new homes through planning reform
Labour plans to build new infrastructure, roads and railways and deliver 1.5m new homes in the next five years.

The new Government proposes a “blitz” of planning reform”, in order to deliver more homes, improve local infrastructure and improve the affordability of housing.

Recent plans for growing the economy and improving housebuilding include the following measures:
• Allowing construction on “poor quality” Green Belt land, dubbed the “grey belt”. This would include areas like disused car parks and wasteland and could also comprise releasing some green belt land “in the right places” for development.
• Prioritising the development of “brownfield” sites for new housing and re-introducing mandatory housing targets to LPAs to keep them accountable.
• Building “the next generation of new towns” across the country.

The Government is promising to fund more planning officers for local councils to speed up the planning process, as well as to devolve more planning powers to local mayors to accelerate development.

In terms of infrastructure, the Government is looking at reforming the planning system to build the data centres and infrastructure needed for new technologies and industries alongside developing a new 10-year infrastructure strategy, including a system for the fast-track of major infrastructure projects. A National Infrastructure Authority would be set up to set priorities and oversee the delivery of projects, and a new National Wealth Fund would be created to advance growth and new clean energy initiatives.

These policies aim to address housing shortages, boost economic growth, and modernize infrastructure across the UK. Labour’s manifesto emphasises making “exemplary development” the norm rather than the exception.