London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Sep 08, 2025

Housing targets to be diluted after revolt from Tory MPs

Housing targets to be diluted after revolt from Tory MPs

The government has agreed to water down housing targets for local councils, in order to put down a rebellion from Conservative MPs.

Nearly 60 rebels had pledged to back a plan to ban mandatory targets in England, delaying votes on the Levelling Up Bill.

Housing Secretary Michael Gove has now offered councils more flexibility over meeting the government-set targets.

Rebels had argued they are excessive, and undermine local councils.

Former minister and leading rebel Theresa Villiers said the government's plans were a "compromise" that would "rebalance" planning rules.

Other Conservative MPs had expressed concern about the rebels' plans, warning they would lead to fewer homes being built.

The public accounts committee has said the government is unlikely to meet its housebuilding targets and not enough socially-rented homes are being built.

The government said Mr Gove had now agreed to give councils more leeway to depart from government housing targets.

In a press release, the Department for Levelling Up said the targets would become a "starting point" for development, with new flexibilities to "reflect local circumstances".

These targets, calculated using a government formula, have to be incorporated into councils' 15-year housebuilding plans. Councils that fail to do so can have their power to block new developments curbed.

The government is yet to set out the changes in detail, with the Department for Levelling Up promising to do so on Tuesday.

Isle of Wight MP Bob Seely, another prominent rebel, said ministers had agreed that councils should be able to take an area's density and "existing character" into account when applying the targets.


Holiday lets


In another concession to rebels, the government has also agreed to introduce registration schemes for holiday lets.

A consultation will also be launched on making homeowners get planning permission to convert their homes for tourist use.

Holiday rentals have been a big issue in a number of rural beauty spots, with MPs representing them complaining of a big expansion in lets during the Covid pandemic pushing up housing prices for locals.

The rebels also say Mr Gove has agreed that councils with an up-to-date local housebuilding plan won't have to set aside a rolling five-year stock of land for future development.

This planning requirement, designed to make sure councils allocate enough land to fulfil their targets, had also been unpopular with rebels, who had backed a plan to scrap it completely.

Speaking to reporters, Mr Gove said the government's proposed changes would help it meet its target of building 300,000 homes a year by the mid 2020s.

He added, however, that the pledge would be "difficult" to deliver in the next year because of the economic slump and rising inflation.

But Labour's shadow levelling up secretary Lisa Nandy said the government's plans for housing targets were "unconscionable in the middle of a housing crisis".

She added that the government was "weak," adding that the prime minister and Cabinet "are in office but not in power".

The government is falling short of its housebuilding targets by 32,000 homes from its original 2016 and 2021 goals for affordable homes, a report by the public accounts committee published on Wednesday has revealed.

MPs on the committee have noted that amongst all the building targets there is not one for affordable or socially rented homes.

Committee chair Dame Meg Hillier said local authorities know where and what type of homes need to be built "to address the national housing crisis but don't have the power to act".

"The human cost of inaction is already affecting thousands of households and now the building programme is hitting the challenges of increased building costs," she said.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Nayib Bukele Points Out Belgian Hypocrisy as Brussels Considers Sending Army into the Streets
Elon Musk Poised to Become First Trillionaire Under Ambitious Tesla Pay Plan
France, at an Impasse, Heads Toward Another Government Collapse
Burning the Minister’s House Helped Protesters to Win Justice: Prabowo Fires Finance Minister in Wake of Indonesia Protests
Brazil Braces for Fallout from Bolsonaro Trial by corrupted judge
The Country That Got Too Rich? Public Spending Dominates Norway Election
Nearly 40 Years Later: Nike Changes the Legendary Slogan Just Do It
Generations Born After 1939 Unlikely to Reach Age One Hundred, New Study Finds
End to a four-year manhunt in New Zealand: the father who abducted his children to the forests was killed, the three siblings were found
Germany Suspends Debt Rules, Funnels €500 Billion Toward Military and Proxy War Strategy
EU Prepares for War
BMW Eyes Growth in China with New All‑Electric Neue Klasse Lineup
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
US Justice Department Launches Criminal Mortgage-Fraud Probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Escalating Drug Trafficking and Violence in Latin America: A Growing Crisis
US and Taiwanese Defence Officials Held Secret Talks in Alaska
Report: Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission in North Korea Ordered by Trump in 2019 Ended in Failure
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Florida Murder Case: The Adelson Family, the Killing of Dan Markel, and the Trial of Donna Adelson
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Big Tech Executives Laud Trump at White House Dinner, Unveil Massive U.S. Investments
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
‘Looks Like a Wig’: Online Users Express Concern Over Kate Middleton
Brand-New $1 Million Yacht Sinks Just Fifteen Minutes After Maiden Launch in Turkey
Here’s What the FBI Seized in John Bolton Raid — and the Legal Risks He Faces
Florida’s Vaccine Revolution: DeSantis Declares War on Mandates
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
"The Situation Has Never Been This Bad": The Fall of PepsiCo
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
The Fashion Designer Who Became an Italian Symbol: Giorgio Armani Has Died at 91
Putin Celebrates ‘Unprecedentedly High’ Ties with China as Gazprom Seals Power of Siberia-2 Deal
China Unveils New Weapons in Grand Military Parade as Xi Hosts Putin and Kim
Queen Camilla’s Teenage Courage: Fended Off Attempted Assault on London Train, New Biography Reveals
Scottish Brothers Set Record in Historic Pacific Row
Rapper Cardi B Cleared of Liability in Los Angeles Civil Assault Trial
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Court of Appeal Allows Asylum Seekers to Remain at Essex Hotel Amid Local Tax Boycott Threats
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
×