Labour wants to give local development authorities in England “sweeping powers” to buy land at a “fraction of its potential cost” if they want to build on it, should they win power in the next General Election.
The Guardian reports that under the plans, officials could use compulsory purchase orders to buy land without having to include ‘hope value’ a premium currently granted to land on which a developer hopes to secure planning permission.
A party source told The Guardian: “We want to rebalance the power between landowners and local communities. We want local areas to capture a lot more of the value that is created when you build on land nearby.
“The principal is to tilt the balance of power, which right now is tilted towards landowners and not communities.”
Housing Secretary Michael Gove has promised a series of planning reforms, but he has been hampered by backbenchers who believe their seats are under threat because of building schemes in their constituencies.
Last year the Government dropped its mandatory target of building 300,000 new homes a year, making it voluntary instead. Labour is planning to reintroduce the target should it be successful at the next General Election.
But earlier this year, the Home Builders Federation conducted a study which indicated that housebuilding in England could decrease to 120,000 annually. If accurate, this would represent the lowest level of housebuilding since the period of the Second World War.
For many years, prominent figures from both major political parties have been advocating for the removal of ‘hope value’ from compulsory purchase evaluations.
Neil O’Brien, a Conservative MP, voiced his concerns about this practice in 2018, describing it as “highly questionable”. His comments were part of a report he penned for the centre-right think tank, Onward.
The Guardian reports that Labour officials are still deciding on the scope of the reforms, and whether they should be passed in the “take back control” bill, which Labour leader Keir Starmer has promised will be part of his first King’s speech, or whether they should be part of a separate planning bill.
