Angela Rayner has launched plans to give elected mayors greater powers over local councils to direct new housing, transport and other development.
The Deputy Prime Minister said the government’s English Devolution White Paper will give these regional leaders “the ability to guide infrastructure and development projects across areas, housing, transport and skills”.
She adds the legislation will be a key part of its plan to build 1.5 million homes over the next five years. Over the last five years, the country built around one million homes.
Rayner was speaking to an audience of regional mayors, local government and business leaders, in Leeds.
She added: “Our devolution revolution will help us rebuild our country so that it works for working people.”
The plans will allow mayors to overrule local authorities who have blocked development projects.
Although the government has previously said it will use its powers to push through regional schemes it deems as important to the economic growth of the nation.
The document will propose creating strategic authorities across England to hold new devolved powers, which may merge some smaller district councils.
Under housing and planning, the paper proposes:
- All areas, with or without a strategic authority, will have to produce a spatial development strategy, which will aim to build more homes
- Mayors will be given new development management powers, similar to those held by the Mayor of London. This will include the ability to “call in planning applications of strategic importance”
- Mayors will be able to charge developers a Mayoral Levy to ensure that new developments come with the necessary associated infrastructure. A similar fund was introduced in London to help finance the Elizabeth Line in 2012
- Homes England will move over time to a more regionalised model to be “more responsive” to the economic plan of regions
- Mayors will have the funding they need to deliver on their housing ambitions, with control of grant funding for regeneration and housing delivery
- Established Mayoral strategic authorities will also have the ability to set the strategic direction of future affordable housing programmes
Last week the government formally set councils the combined target of bulding 370,000 homes a year to meet its five-year housing goal.
Propertymark head of policy and campaigns Timothy Douglas said: “An infrastructure first approach is key to delivering the homes the country desperately needs. While mandatory targets focus minds towards achieving a goal, a one size fits all approach to housing delivery will not be enough if the UK government are to hit their ambitious housing targets.
“More must be done to work with local authorities to ensure there is the capacity, political will and buy-in from local communities to build in more areas across the country.”
Meanwhile, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has confirmed that the Office for Budget Responsibility has been commissioned for an economic and fiscal forecast, to be published on 26 March.
The OBR is tasked by statute to produce two forecasts each financial year.
But the Treasury adds that “the Chancellor remains committed to one major fiscal event a year to give families and businesses stability and certainty on upcoming tax and spending changes and, in turn, to support the government’s growth mission”.