Don't fail the next generation on homes, Robert Jenrick warns

The Conservatives will be "letting the next generation down" if they fail to deliver reforms to "build the homes we need", the former Housing Secretary warns.

In an article for The Telegraph, Robert Jenrick, who was ousted in this month's reshuffle, warns Boris Johnson and Michael Gove against retreating from major planning changes in the face of opposition by MPs.

Mr Jenrick's intervention - his first since leaving the Government - follows reports that Mr Gove, the new Levelling Up Secretary, is considering watering down changes drawn up in a new Planning Bill, following a Tory revolt over earlier versions of the proposals.

Mr Jenrick cites Mr Johnson's previous commitment to "big, bold steps" to "build the homes we all need", stating: "I know he and my successor won’t want that to slip through our fingers."

Proponents of major reforms designed to increase housebuilding fear that if the Conservatives fail to act while Mr Johnson has the benefit of an 80-strong majority, the party will never deliver on its promises to dramatically increase levels of home ownership.

The Telegraph understands that Mr Jenrick and Mr Johnson had already agreed to ditch plans to make housebuilding targets mandatory.

Following concerns about residents being unable to object to planning applications under the Government's proposed new system, plans agreed over summer would also have allowed local residents to continue to submit comments after a scheme had been agreed "in principle".

Other proposals in the draft Planning Bill include a new Stalled Sites Levy which would see developers charged an equivalent rate to council tax on land for which they had gained planning permission but failed to construct anything after a specified number of years.

The draft bill is also understood to significantly increase fines for those who show a "disregard for due process" by building illegal traveller encampments or waiting until after a home has been constructed to seek planning permission for the building.

The Government's initial plan to reform the planning system was based on a so-called "mutant" algorithm and the proposals were blamed by some for the Conservatives' resounding defeat in June's Chesham and Amersham by-election.

'Hypocrisy is rife'

But Mr Jenrick states: "Those of us lucky enough to be homeowners must ask ourselves whether we want other families to have all of those gifts, or whether we are content to keep putting the key into our own front door and turning away from others less fortunate."

He adds: "We’re letting the next generation down if this is the best we can do."

Mr Jenrick states that Mr Johnson "cares passionately about housing, more than any Prime Minister I’ve known", quoting the Conservative leader's remarks last year the Government needs to “take big, bold steps so that we can finally build the homes we all need and the future we all want to see.”

Mr Jenrick states: "That can be done in different ways, but I know he and my successor won’t want that to slip through our fingers. Young people and families deserve nothing less."

On Saturday, The Telegraph reported that dozens of rebel Conservative MPs have signed a letter telling Mr Johnson and Mr Gove that, if the Government goes ahead with the Planning Bill, they want it to be submitted to pre-legislative scrutiny first. This would allow MPs to take out divisive elements before it goes into the Commons for a full debate.

We mustn’t squander the chance to build the homes that Britain needs

By Robert Jenrick, former secretary of state for housing

My grandad used to tell the story of when he bought his first home in Manchester, just after the war.

He remembered the pride he felt the first time he watched the rent collector miss his gate and walk on to the next property. That was a lifetime ago, but I believe the desire to own your own home remains undimmed. Yet it’s still too hard a road for young people and families.

We’re letting the next generation down if this is the best we can do.

The good news on house building is that, as a result of the efforts of this Government, it is at the highest levels in my lifetime, with almost 250,000 homes delivered in the past year. In fact, despite the all-consuming nature of the pandemic, we achieved more in 2020 than in any year in living memory.

We created a modern, flexible system that enables a hairdressers to become a cafe, or an empty shop, a town centre home; allowed people to demolish and rebuild derelict eyesores as good quality housing; enabled homeowners to build upwards so their homes could grow as their families did too; created a right to buy unused public sector land and give it new purpose; and swept away archaic rules to facilitate the al fresco dining revolution.

But we must go further still. It’s clear there’s little political appetite for binding housing targets, and the public rightly want to be closely involved in planning decisions.

'Building homes is always a contentious business'

But that doesn’t mean we should shrug our shoulders and give up on modernising and improving our uniquely complex and slow planning system.

We can do so in a way that helps deliver net zero, more infrastructure investment, and more local democracy, such as giving residents the right to vote for changes in their neighbourhood.

Perhaps the most compelling reason to continue improving the system is to build a more competitive housing sector, less dominated by a few large and very profitable builders. It’s the complexity that cements their position and holds back smaller businesses.

Building homes is always a contentious business and understandably so – it impacts our biggest investments, our local communities and our uniquely special built and natural environment.

For Conservatives, it’s an issue where our free-market instincts and belief in aspiration and opportunity collide with our desire to conserve and to protect.

We can find the right balance and establish a degree of harmony between these noble and conservative objectives. It’s clear the Prime Minister is determined to build on this momentum. He cares passionately about housing, more than any Prime Minister I’ve known, and as Mayor of London, had a record that his successor can only dream of.

As he wrote in the foreword to the planning white paper, we need to “take big, bold steps so that we... can finally build the homes we all need and the future we all want to see”. That can be done in different ways, but I know he and my successor won’t want that to slip through our fingers. Young people and families deserve nothing less.