Angela Rayner has launched the New Homes Accelerator, a team of experienced officials from the Ministry of Housing and Homes England who will work across government and with local councils to accelerate housebuilding.
The new taskforce aims to speed up the “buildout” of housing schemes delayed by planning and red tape to drive economic growth across the country, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said in a press release.
It will bring together key players, including government agencies, local planning departments and housebuilders, who will work to resolve specific local issues and deploy planning experts on the ground to work through blockages at each site identified. This will include looking at barriers to affordable housing delivery where relevant.
It comes after Rayner launched a New Towns Taskforce, which also aims to “get Britain building”, last month.
The accelerator, which will be a team of around 15, according to Politico, “will focus on lending a helping hand to frustrated housebuilders and local communities who want to play their part to get Britain building again, in turn driving local and economic growth”.
Interventions could include providing resources to support local planning capacity where there are barriers.
MHCLG said 200 large sites have outline or detailed plans ready to go but are yet to begin construction and that the taskforce is “already getting started on some of those that would benefit from early interventions”.
Rayner, the deputy prime minister and housing secretary, said: “For far too long the delivery of tens of thousands of new homes has been held back by a failure to make sure the development system is working as it should.
“This government has a moral obligation to do everything within our power to build the homes that people desperately need and we won’t hesitate to intervene where we need to.
“Our New Homes Accelerator will quickly identify blockages, fix problems and support local authorities and developers to get shovels in the ground.”
David O’Leary, executive director of the Home Builders Federation, a trade association representing private sector homebuilders in England and Wales, welcomed the announcement. “A lack of planning department capacity and misaligned incentives for other public bodies and statutory consultees has created a process with huge uncertainty,” he said.
The accelerator was promised in Rachel Reeves's first speech as chancellor in July. She said it would “accelerate stalled housing sites… beginning with Liverpool Central Docks, Worcester Parkway, Northstowe and Langley Sutton Coldfield, representing more than 14,000 homes”.