Rayner to overhaul planning laws to make it easier to build homes

Angela Rayner will unveil a bill to overhaul planning laws next week as Labour seeks to pave the way for 1.5 million homes to be built over five years.

The Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary said that “delivering social and affordable housing at scale” was her “number one priority”.

But the planning system should be a “launching pad” and not a “millstone” dragging the property market down, she wrote in The Observer.

The changes, expected to be announced before MPs’ summer recess, will include reinstating mandatory housing targets that were abolished by the previous government, and introducing “golden rules” to ensure development works benefit the local community and protect nature, Ms Rayner said.

“We plan to provide more detail on these early and important changes in the updated National Planning Policy Framework next week,” Ms Rayner wrote.

She added that the government was committed to protecting the green belt and would prioritise development on the so-called grey belt – green belt areas that have previously been developed and include unused car parks and wasteland.

She said Labour knew about the housing crisis when it came to power but “under every stone we lift” there is a “frankly scandalous legacy” left by Conservative predecessors.

The announcement of Ms Rayner’s plans comes as Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves is set to reveal a black hole in the public finances of around £20 billion.

The Chancellor will outline the spending inherited from the Conservatives when she presents the results of a Treasury audit to Parliament on Monday.

A government spokesman said the audit found that “the previous government made significant financial commitments for this financial year without knowing where the money would come from”.

The spokesman added: “The review will show the UK broke and broken – exposing the mess populist policies have made of the economy and public services.”

The Chancellor is expected to approve above-inflation pay rises for millions of public sector workers in response to recommendations from independent Pay Review Bodies.

Teachers and around 1.3 million NHS staff are set to receive a 5.5% pay rise, which could cost them around £3.5 billion more than budgeted.

According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), this figure could rise to around £10 billion if other pay review bodies made similar recommendations for workers such as police and prison officers, doctors and dentists.

Since this cost has not been fully factored into current plans, the money will have to be raised from existing fiscal reserves, either by changing fiscal laws or by raising taxes.

Tax rises to cover these costs are not expected before the autumn budget, the date of which Ms Reeves is also due to announce on Monday.

Labour has ruled out raising income tax, VAT, national insurance and corporation tax, which could potentially mean no change to pension credits, capital gains and inheritance taxes.