Where does the government want to build 1.5 million new homes?


The UK government has recently released its plans to tackle the housing shortage in England by giving local councils targets for new homes in their areas. The Housing Minister, Matthew Pennycook, stated the focus would be on the areas where housing is least affordable. The government intends to build 1.5 million new homes over the next five years, with a focus on affordable housing.

Local authorities have been urged to give developers permission to build, as millions of people cannot afford to buy their first home, and there is a backlog of people living in unsuitable accommodation. The government revealed that 1.3 million households are on social housing waiting lists, and a record number – including 160,000 children – are in temporary accommodation. The government has not announced a deadline for reaching the 370,000 annual target.

The highest housebuilding targets have been set for cities that face the most unaffordable housing with the greatest potential for growth. Among these cities are St Albans, where the target is rising from 885 under the previous Conservative government to 1,660. In Oxford, the target is rising from 762 to 1,087. In the South East as a whole, the annual quota will be almost 71,000.

The government plans to prioritise previously developed land, such as places like derelict industrial or commercial developments, for new homes. However, the Housing Minister stated that brownfield land alone will not be enough to deliver the number of homes the country needs. The government will also order councils to review green belt boundaries to identify lower quality land that can be built on. The Prime Minister also mentioned that development would be locally led, with the land developed “brownfield first, grey site next, and greenbelt last

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