Angela Rayner's planning reforms will cover Britain in 'soulless settlements' of ugly houses, Tories warn as Starmer vows to use AI to speed up building
Shadow Housing Secretary Kevin Hollinrake warned that measures being championed by Angela Rayner would lead to increased urban sprawl of concrete houses.
He took aim at plans to use the Planning and Infrastructure Bill - which is being debated today and tomorrow in Parliament - to reclassify some of the green belt as lower-quality 'grey belt' land suitable for development.
Ms Rayner, the Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary, is fronting the Government's plans for 1.5 million new homes by 2029.
Writing in the Telegraph, Mr Hollinrake said the bill is 'blatantly encouraging urban sprawl, increasing housing targets for councils outside of towns and cities whilst easing targets for cities like London '.
He said: 'This will just create new, soulless settlements, take away our green belt, and make residents feel trapped and isolated hours away from their friends, work, and the amenities they need.'
It came as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer used a speech to vow to use AI to speed up the planning system.
He told London tech Week that a system called Extract 'takes old, handwritten planning documents and puts them into digital form in seconds', increasing the rate at which they are processed twentyfold.
'It's a huge productivity boost and we want to roll that out,' the PM added.
'It doesn't just show that the government can innovate, it also means faster planning decisions, which I think comes as a relief to many people in this room and beyond—both in AI and in British business more broadly.
'And of course, it's money-saved for councils, so they can spend their money on other things. It turns into more growth and more opportunity.'
However Mr Hollinrake argued that rather than building on the green belt, Labour should be 'gently densifying our existing towns and cities to resurrect lost communities'.
'This requires beautiful new homes and developments that bring nature and the life it brings back into the hearts of our towns and cities,' he wrote.
'Look at some of the most beautiful parts of our great cities, like Marylebone in London, with mid-rise, six-storey mansion blocks. No one would complain if this beautiful architecture were repeated elsewhere.
'But Labour showed it doesn't care for creating beautiful, connected communities when they shut the Office for Place.
'With Nicholas Boys Smith at the helm, it made sure new developments focused on building beautiful, green and connected communities.
'Without the Office for Place, there is nothing protecting communities from the bland, cookie-cutter houses that foster isolation.
'One and a half million new homes is an admirable ambition, but it means nothing if you don't build the communities and homes people actually want.'
Last month Ms Rayner rejected claimed that Labour will be 'bulldozing over the greenbelt' or compromising on protections for nature to build homes faster.
The Deputy Prime Minister said that proposals to give a boost to smaller developers, which will ease the requirements for them to pay to boost nature habitats, were 'pragmatism' and that the Government will be able to 'protect nature at the same time'.
The Government has set out proposals to cut red tape and for planning decisions to be shifted away from councillors and towards expert officers as part of efforts to meet Labour's pledge to build 1.5 million homes by 2029-30.
Trained planning officers rather than committees of elected councillors will be responsible for deciding on developments of up to nine homes under the plans, as well as most minor and technical applications.
The Government is considering 'streamlining' requirements on biodiversity net gain including the option of a full exemption for those minor developments.
Sites with 10 to 49 homes would fall in a new category for medium-sized developments with fewer costs, simplified biodiversity net gain rules and an exemption from the building safety levy.
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