Rayner set to hit English councils that block new housing with tougher sanctions

"Angela Rayner is poised to introduce tougher sanctions on councils in England that block local housing developments. Councils could be forced to approve new housing developments overturning locally agreed plans under stricter rules or risk handing over control of their planning departments to Whitehall officials. Rayner, who has come under pressure this week for adding to her constituency residence and grace-and-favour home in London with the purchase of an 800,000 apartment near Brighton, already has considerable powers to overrule councils that block housing developments."

"It is understood that before the end of the year the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) will reduce the number of times a council can have planning appeals overturned before sanctions are imposed by central government. Hundreds of councils are expected to fall foul of the new rules after Rayner established new building targets to achieve the government's aim of 1.5m new homes by the end of the parliament."

"The government is taking decisive action to deliver 1.5m homes through our plan for change, with major planning reforms and a landmark planning and infrastructure bill already introduced to drive housebuilding to its highest level in 40 years. We are exploring plans to go further by making it easier to intervene where councils consistently make poor-quality decisions about planning applications and prevent the delivery of the homes and infrastructure we need. This will help to get Britain building again."

Angela Rayner plans tougher sanctions on councils that block local housing developments, including forcing approvals or transferring planning control to Whitehall officials. The MHCLG will reduce how many times a council can have planning appeals overturned before central sanctions apply. Hundreds of councils are likely to breach the new rules after new building targets were set to reach 1.5m homes by the end of the parliament. The housebuilding programme is behind schedule after a slow start by major firms. Councils may be required to rewrite local plans with higher housing targets or face loss of local decision-making powers.

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