Gove’s move to allow councils to block housing on greenbelt prompts criticism

Local authorities do not have to earmark greenfield land for new homes, the Housing Secretary said in a speech on housebuilding on Tuesday.

In his address at the Royal Institute of British Architects in central London, he announced a series of measures to boost planning performance across the system, including naming and shaming local planning authorities who are too slow to respond to applications.

The Government will publishing “robust league tables” to reveal councils’ poor performance on planning, he said.

But Mr Gove added local authorities will be able to reject development if it would significantly alter the character of an area or have an impact upon the the greenbelt.

It comes after Mr Sunak last year dropped compulsory housing targets to ward off a potential backbench Tory rebellion, choosing instead to make the 300,000 target in England advisory.

The National Housing Federation said the changes, “which effectively relax local housing targets, will result in fewer homes”.

Mr Gove said in his speech: “Local authorities have the comfort of knowing that they need not redraw the greenbelt or sacrifice protected landscapes to meet housing numbers.”

He said new developments must be beautiful, provided with local infrastructure, locally agreed, environmentally considerate and have a neighbourhood feel.

But the Cabinet minister denied bowing to pressure from Nimbys – those campaigning for “not in my back yard”.

Asked whether he was caving in to pressure from Tory MPs, he said: “Absolutely not.

“There are perfectly reasonable reasons to resist development if it is unattractive, if it’s unaccompanied by infrastructure, if it dramatically changes the character of an area, if it harms the environment.

“It’s only right that local people can have the chance through the planning system to safeguard the environmental and protect the character of the places in which they live.”

He insisted his plans make clear there is “no excuse” for local authorities not to have a housing plan in place, “no excuse for not delivering against that plan”.

Local authorities will have three months to put in place plans to meet the housing need in their area.

Those that fail to meet the deadline could have developments forced upon their area and councillors could also be stripped of their powers to delay applications.

Kate Henderson, chief executive of the National Housing Federation, warned the plans “risk further undermining the country’s ability to build the homes we desperately need.

“These changes, which effectively relax local housing targets, will result in fewer homes; and measures to get councils building and approving applications, whilst positive, won’t be enough to offset this risk.

“We’re concerned measures to protect the greenbelt at any cost will prevent otherwise sustainable developments, close to existing communities, from being built.”

Victoria Vyvyan, president of the Country Land and Business Association, which represents rural business owners and farmers, said: “Unless some villages can build a small number of homes, young people will be driven out of the countryside and more of our schools, businesses and community spaces risk closing for good.”

In his speech, Mr Gove also set out plans for a major expansion around Cambridge, with around 150,000 new homes.

And he set up a clash with London Mayor Sadiq Khan about the supply of homes in the capital, announcing a review of the city’s housing plan.

Mr Khan hit back, with a source close to him saying: “Londoners will not be fooled by desperate distraction tactics from a Tory Government which crashed the economy and condemned millions to mortgage misery and rocketing rents…

“The Mayor will take no lessons from a Government – and a housing minister in Michael Gove – that have such a shameful record and have repeatedly intervened to block the new housing the capital desperately needs.”