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Rayner sets out Labour’s plan for next generation of New Towns with commitment to 40% affordable homes
Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner will promise to deliver 40% affordable homes on new development as part of her party’s plan for a new generation of New Towns.
In a keynote speech to property industry leaders at the annual conference of the UK’s Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum (UKREiiF) in Leeds tomorrow, Ms Rayner will tell developers that Labour’s new era for private sector involvement in housing means “backing developers who deliver”.
Building on Labour’s “first step” towards economic stability and growth unveiled by party leader Sir Keir Starmer recently, the shadow housing secretary will tell the conference that a Labour government will set high standards for design, quality, affordable homes, green spaces and infrastructure.
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These plans will include a New Towns Code, which means that each new development must deliver:
- Affordable housing: a gold-standard target of 40% affordable, including a mix of social, council and other tenures
- Characterful design: robust design codes for beautiful buildings and tree-lined streets that fit in with nearby areas and pay attention to local history and identity
- Fit-for-the-future layouts: high-density housing to efficiently use available land, with good links to town and city centres
- Infrastructure first: guarantees that new houses mean new transport links, healthcare and schools
- Green spaces: access to nature and parks, embedded greenery, and new facilities for kids to play and families to exercise
Labour’s plan for New Towns aims to echo those built by the first Labour government after World War II, and make up a crucial part of the party’s plan to build homes fit for the future.
Ms Rayner will pledge to work in partnership with “responsible”’ developers willing to deliver affordable homes accompanied by green spaces, schools and transport links.
Overall, Labour has pledged to build 1.5 million homes over the next five-year parliamentary term. This equates to 300,000 homes a year, the current government’s target, which it has missed repeatedly.
Inside Housing reported last week that affordable housing starts fell 90% over a 12-month period.
Before that, the G15 called on the government to launch an Affordable Housing Commission, as new figures revealed development in the capital was “grinding to a halt”.
Among London’s biggest social landlords, starts of affordable homes in the current financial year are expected to have fallen by 76%, to 1,769, compared with 7,363 the previous year.
The shadow housing secretary will tell delegates on Tuesday that Labour will learn the lessons of the post-war period, when the government proactively planned for housing growth at a strategic scale, benefitting from decades of growth.
Ms Rayner added: “Labour’s New Towns are just one part of our ambitious housebuilding agenda which will see swathes of good-quality, affordable houses built in the national interest.
“Developers who deliver on their obligations to build high-quality, well-designed and sustainable affordable housing, with green spaces and transport links and schools and GP surgeries nearby, will experience a new dawn under Labour. But those who have wriggled out of their responsibilities for too long will be robustly held to account.
“Labour’s towns of the future will be built on the foundations of our past. The post-war period taught us that when the government plays a strategic role in housebuilding, we can turbo-charge growth to the benefit of working people across Britain. That is what Labour’s plans will achieve.”
Scott Black, chief operating officer at Places for People, immediately gave the landlord’s support to Labour’s latest pledge.
He said: “Building a generation of new towns will provide vital new infrastructure and affordable housing, create many thousands of jobs, and boost our economy.
“Last year we began work on over 1,900 new affordable homes and are pressing on with transformative plans to create a new Garden Town in East Herts which will create 8,500 new homes and supporting infrastructure.
“But housebuilding at pace and scale remains challenging. A more certain and fully funded planning system would prevent schemes – both new and those already in-flight - from getting stuck, allow for infrastructure to be baked in, and enable homes to be built with the urgency required.
“We fully support any commitment which looks to ease these challenges to urgently scale up housebuilding across the country. We are a key partner to anyone wanting to build the right homes in the right places for the right people.”
The Labour Party unveiled its ‘golden rules’ for building on the so-called grey belt last month, which included a stipulation that a site must target 50% affordable housing.
