Labour<\/span><\/h2>\nThe weight of expectation weighed heavily in the run-up to this year\u2019s party conference with little indication of exactly where the Labour offer would be placed. Having now seen the details it is not short of ambition. Promising the delivery of 1.5m homes, planning reform, and the end of \u201csticking plaster politics\u201d, Labour Leader Keir Starmer rallied his party in Liverpool on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Starmer described Labour as\u00a0\u201ca party of service\u201d<\/em>\u00a0that would put the country first and the party second if it came into government.\u00a0\u201cWe are the builders\u201d,<\/em>\u00a0he told Labour Party Conference attendees. Starmer added later:\u00a0\u201cGetting Britain building again is critical for economic growth. It is our most important mission.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\nBelow are some of Starmer\u2019s key promises from his speech:<\/p>\n
\n1.5m homes will be built within five years. Starmer noted that there are numerous obstacles to delivering so many homes, citing the \u201crestrictive\u201d<\/em>\u00a0planning system, lack of local plans, and land banking as culprits. He also highlighted the fact that some people don\u2019t want homes built near them. To those individuals, he had a message.\u00a0\u201cA future must be built,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0Starmer said.\u00a0\u201cIf we continually wash our hands of this task, we all end up in a rut. It\u2019s time to get Britain building again.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0A new generation of Labour New Towns is promised to turbocharge this delivery.<\/li>\nThe Green Belt will be re-examined. Starmer said that the delivery of the much-needed homes for Britain would not come at the expense of the Green Belt. Instead, it was the \u2018Grey Belt\u2019 that needed to be repurposed \u2013 sites that are designated as Green Belt but are actually brownfield.<\/li>\n More development corporations are planned. Starmer said he would increase the number of these public sector companies, which are dedicated to driving development schemes in their area.<\/li>\n A new focus on centralised infrastructure. The National Grid will get much-needed upgrades to increase its capacity and ability to handle more clean energy. That will be necessary, as Starmer also promised to create a publicly owned energy company, GB Energy, that will be based in Scotland. In addition to this, a National Wealth Fund would be established, which would invest in critical infrastructure projects.\u00a0\u201cAs we share the risk, we must also share the rewards,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0he said.\u00a0\u201cWe will make sure the British people will retain a stake in our investment.\u201d<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nEarlier at conference our new Shadow Levelling up Secretary Angela Rayner told conference that she was\u00a0\u201cnot closing the door\u201d<\/em>\u00a0on any option to increase the amount of affordable housing \u2013 such as buying up new stock, building new social homes and making it easier for councils to use receipts from right-to-buy sales. This is in stark contrast to Michael Gove\u2019s department after they handed back \u00a31.9bn to the government \u2013 including \u00a3255m meant to fund new affordable housing in 2022-23 \u2013 because it struggled to find projects to spend it on, Rayner said Labour would \u201cunlock\u201d government grants so more could be delivered.<\/p>\nIn summary, the Labour leader noted there were no quick fixes and that\u00a0\u201clong-term solutions are not oven-ready\u201d\u00a0<\/em>urging his party to stay the course. With the ambitious programme noted for housing alone, concern from many will be around whether this can be achieved within a single parliament, although Labour sees their tenure as potentially lasting longer still. It was refreshing to hear a vision for change which seeks to grasp the nettle of the housing crisis and begin to develop strategies to tackle this, undoubtedly difficult and fraught with electoral peril but seemingly with societal best interests at heart. Let\u2019s see if Starmer\u2019s message to neigh sayers of\u00a0\u201cIf we continually wash our hands of this task, we all end up in a rut.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>stands the test of time as detail around future manifestos comes to bear.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":4254,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[85,163,144,94,151],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Housing and Planning Party Conference Summary 2023 – WWA Studios<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n