Housing plans likely to face opposition from Labour MPs, government says | Planning Policy

Plans for new housing are likely to face opposition from local Labour MPs, the government has said, as Keir Starmer prepares to implement mandatory targets within months.

Officials said they would begin consultations on the new targets in the next two weeks, with a view to having them in place by the fall.

The plans are due to be unveiled on Wednesday as part of Starmer’s first speech. The changes will mean a presumption in favour of development and the government will have new powers to override local objections on national infrastructure such as data centres.

The government also wants local authorities to work together to identify regional infrastructure needs and prevent individual authorities from blocking plans.

Speaking before the speech, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Pat McFadden, said he was confident local MPs, including his own, would oppose specific developments, but added that local authorities would only have power over where housing was built, not whether it was built at all.

“People will have their views on individual development, they are entitled to their views on individual development,” McFadden said. “But local authorities will be asked to identify land for housing or for development, and they will have a choice between here and there. But overall, we need to get things built.”

He added: “So you can have fun in the next few years saying: here’s a Labour MP who doesn’t want this particular development. I know that’s going to happen.”

Asked whether this was hypocrisy, he said: “I’m not saying that everything we do is going to be opposed by MPs. But what I am saying is that in the real world there will be developments that some people don’t like, and that will always be the case.”

In its first week in power, Labor reversed the previous government’s de facto ban on onshore wind farms in a bid to boost construction of clean energy plants.

The prime minister will announce the next stage of the party’s plans to liberalise the planning system on Wednesday, with a bill to reimpose mandatory housing targets on local authorities. Michael Gove, the former housing secretary, relaxed the targets last year under pressure from Conservative MPs, allowing councils to ignore them if they were seen as damaging to the character of an area.

Starmer said ahead of his speech: “It’s time to take the brakes off Britain. For too long, people have been held back, their path determined by where they come from – not their talents and hard work.

“I am determined to create wealth for citizens across the country. This is the only way our country can progress, and my government is working to support this aspiration.

“Today’s new laws will take back control and lay the foundation for the real change this country demands, creating wealth in every community and improving people’s lives, supporting their ambitions, hopes and dreams.”

Chris Philp, the shadow Commons leader, said the government had engaged in “shameless propaganda” by reclassifying green belt land as “grey belt” in order to build on previously protected areas.

“We certainly agree that we need to build more housing, but we need to build it in the right places,” he said. “For example, I think we should build it on brownfield sites in city centres, those kinds of places with a view to creating new towns, but we should not destroy the green belt.”

He added: “They’re talking about huge chunks of green belt, not a car park. You can’t suddenly say that a huge chunk of green belt is now called grey belt and it’s OK to build on it. I mean, that’s just blatant, absurd talk.”