Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to ensure that developers do not build new homes without adequate infrastructure such as GP surgeries and schools. He likened the current situation to the “Wild West,” where developers decide where to build homes, and infrastructure fails to catch up. Earlier this week, Sir Keir talked about bulldozing planning rules to build 1.5 million homes, which drew criticism from the Conservatives. The Conservatives claimed that Labour’s record on housebuilding had been atrocious.
Housing Minister Rachel Maclean accused Labour of failing to build enough homes in places where they are in power, such as London and Wales. She also alleged that the party had blocked housebuilding in some areas by voting against relaxing water pollution rules. During his speech at Labour’s annual conference, Sir Keir pledged to create the “next generation of new towns” and accelerate building on unused urban land such as “disused car parks and dreary wasteland.”
However, concerns about accelerated housebuilding were raised during Sir Keir’s interview with BBC local radio stations. Addressing people’s worries, he said that they were concerned about developments only known when diggers turn up, and infrastructure promises not kept. “What you will not get from me is the building of houses but not the infrastructure,” he said. BBC Radio Devon asked Sir Keir about the issue of second homes raising prices in the area. He reiterated his party’s pledge to introduce a licensing scheme in England for people renting out their properties for short-term holiday stays, arguing that it would help ensure the system was “properly controlled.”
Labour plans to build 1.5 million homes in five years, which is similar to the government’s aim of delivering 300,000 new units year from the mid-2020s. However, Sir Keir did not specify where or how many new towns it would build in response to the Conservatives’ criticism. Labour intends to carry out a six-month consultation inviting bids from councils
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