Housing secretary says ‘job on the line’ over 1.5m housing target

Housing Secretary Steve Reid says his job should be “on the line” over a pledge to build 1.5 million new homes in England, but two leading experts told BBC Panorama the government looks set to miss its target.

Professor Paul Cheshire, who advised previous governments on planning policy, said it was “absolutely impossible” for it to succeed.

Meanwhile Neil Jefferson of the House Builders Federation, which represents private housebuilders, warned the government's target was “looking increasingly distant”.

But Reed insisted he would “absolutely” achieve the goal and told Panorama that widespread skepticism would make the “celebrations even sweeter” when he achieves it.

The promise to build houses over the next parliament, due to run until 2029, was the cornerstone of Labour's manifesto.

“My job could be in jeopardy if I don’t achieve my goal,” Reed said. “I expect to be held accountable.”

But Mr Jefferson told Panorama that housing production was “stabilising” at around 200,000 new homes a year instead of the 300,000 annually required by the target.

The industry's pace of construction was affected by, among other things, a cumbersome planning process, environmental regulations and a shortage of skilled workers, he said.

Many large or controversial planning applications are now decided not by trained council planners, but by elected local councilors on planning committees.

This means that national priorities, such as building more homes, often clash with local opposition.

Councils must also adopt a 'local plan' – a document outlining where development should take place and how it fits in with national policy. These plans can help streamline the planning approval process: if a proposal complies with the plan, it should receive permission unless there is a compelling reason to refuse it.

This means that these documents are controversial and can often face fierce local opposition.

Less than a third of councils in England currently have an updated local plan, according to the Planning Inspectorate.

But Reid told Panorama the government would soon force councils to adopt a local plan.

Under the proposed changes, councils would have to prepare a plan within 30 months of starting the process – instead of the current average of seven years.

The government has also announced it will increase funding and training for planning authorities to help them implement their plans.

Reed insisted the government's reforms would help developers build more homes, including giving councils new housing targets and “more powers” so he could call in or review “unreasonably” rejected housing schemes.

The government has also proposed reforming the rules governing green belt conservation land, which makes up 12.5% ​​of land in England.

The first green belt was created in the 1930s to prevent urban sprawl into the countryside. But today, many areas of the green belt are home to intensive agriculture, industrial buildings, quarries and golf courses.

The government has developed a new concept called the gray belt. The aim is to make it easier to obtain planning permission for green belt land considered to be of poor quality or already developed.

However, the government has given each local authority the power to decide which sites fall within the gray belt at a local level.

Professor Cheshire, a former economist at the London School of Economics, said it was a missed opportunity: “If the gray belt had been defined in a legally watertight way… then it would have been dismantled and dried out and a lot of houses could have been built, but they didn't.”

“They've left it to the vagueness of the planning system and therefore to local lobbying and… it's not going to happen,” he said.

Professor Cheshire said the government's reforms “won't make much of a difference”. He added that “there is absolutely no way we can build 1.5 million homes.”