By Richard Johnstone in Manchester | 22 September 2014
Labour has set out plans to create local housing corporations that are intended to accelerate the delivery of up to 500,000 new homes.
Setting out the early conclusions from the Lyons Commission into housebuilding at its conference in Manchester yesterday, the party highlighted the shortage of homes across the country, predicting it would hit two million by 2020 – equivalent to five cities the size of Birmingham.
Ahead of its full report later this year, the commission, which is chaired by Sir Michael Lyons, published early recommendations intended to increase the powers of communities over development so more people can own their own home. It called for New Home Corporations to be created which would allow large sites to be developed across council boundaries.
These bodies would be set up by councils at city and county region level and would be responsible for the master plans in large-scale developments.
Lyons said these corporations were intended to learn from the focused delivery of the infrastructure required for the 2012 London Olympics by identifying a specific site and putting in place a plan for homes and infrastructure such as roads and schools to be developed simultaneously.
Such a plan would also increase certainty for developers, meaning that they would be less likely to hold onto large amounts of undeveloped land, he added.
‘We need to mobilise across the nation to build the homes our children need. More land released, a wider range of builders and a bigger role for local authorities working with their partners are all important.
‘Our report will offer a comprehensive view of how these measures and others can help us get to 200,000 homes a year and beyond.’
The Labour party said these proposals were in addition to those already announced to meet the goal of getting 200,000 new homes built a year by 2020, which include developing a new generation of garden cities and giving so-called landlocked councils that want to expand a right to grow.
