The government has pushed back a Commons vote on its housebuilding plans that was due to go ahead on Monday, November 28.
Ministers have opted to delay after 47 Conservative MPs backed an amendment which would mean government enforced housing targets could not influence planning applications.
Currently, local councils need to incorporate government targets into their housing plans and where plans aren't kept up to date, planning guidance limits the ability of local authorities to prevent new developments from going ahead in their area.
The rebel Tories say that arbitrary government housing targets are too excessive and limit the power for local authorities to block proposals in their area when residents aren’t in favour of them.
The proposed amendment would also remove an existing rule which binds local authorities to a commitment to maintain a rolling five-year stock of land for future development.
In the Conservatives’ 2019 election manifesto, the party pledged to build 300,000 new homes per year in England by the mid-2020s.
But Theresa Villiers, the Conservative MP who tabled the amendment, said that the government target was not evidence-based and needed to be reviewed.
She also argued that government housing targets were leading to “excessive numbers” of developments “in certain parts of the country” where they weren’t needed and were “undermining local decision-making”.
Villiers, who represents the constituency of Chipping Barnet in north London, said: “I completely agree we need new homes - but we need the right homes in the right places.”
Basingstoke MP Maria Miller, who backed the amendment, said that removing government targets from planning applications would empower councils and ensure houses are built “where local communities want them”.
On the other hand, Tory MPs who support mandatory targets suggest that giving councils free rein to block developments is needlessly leading to fewer homes being delivered and exacerbating the housing crisis.
Tory MP Simon Clarke said that scrapping targets would give so-called “Nimby [Not In My Back Yard] councils” licence to prevent any new housebuilding in their areas, impeding homes from being built and allowing the housing stock shortage to persist.
Labour’s shadow housing secretary Lisa Nandy said that ministers were “running scared” of their backbench MPs in the wake of the decision and accused the rebels of being “completely irresponsible” in wanting to scrap housing targets with no “viable alternative”.
She did, however, concede there was “a case for reviewing how housing targets are calculated and how they can be challenged when disputed”.
The BBC reports that housing secretary, Michael Gove, is expected to meet with the rebel backbenchers in an effort to alleviate their concerns and get them back on side.
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash
