Prime minister Theresa May is today expected to hit out at developers for their profit and share-linked bonuses and so-called land-banking practices.
In a speech to launch the government’s new national planning policy framework, May is expected to observe that “the bonuses paid to the heads of some of our biggest developers are based not on the number of homes they build, but on their profits or share price… that creates a perverse incentive.”
She will also say the government could allow councils to refuse planning permission to housebuilders if their build-out rate is not fast enough.
As part of plans to get councils to give more land for development, the NPPF will contain new rules determining how many homes councils should be building each year, calculated by local house prices and wages and the number of key workers in the area.
Up to five new garden towns will be approved for the corridor between Oxford, Cambridge and Milton Keynes, where the National Infrastructure Commission has identified the potential to house an additional 1.5m people.
New town development corporations will be established for the chosen site to help developers and town planners “cut through a lot of the bureaucracy”, housing and communities secretary Sajid Javid told The Sunday Times.
This week, proposals to force developers to build more quickly will be revealed by the former cabinet Oliver Letwin’s interim finding of his land-banking investigation.
“I don’t think Oliver is going to hold back,” Javid said.
New polices in the revised NPPF will be subject to an eight-week consultation.
■ See also: Jackie Sadek’s reaction – No doubting her commitment, but did PM say anything new?
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