Planning Reforms: Energy and Housing Costs

Lord McFall of Alcluith Excerpts

Thursday 15th May 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

I thank the noble Baroness for her question. The Government have announced additional funding to support the recruitment and training of 300 graduates and apprentices for local planning authorities. However, I have worked in local government for a long time, and I am not naive enough to think you can pick planners from trees; they need to be trained. This forms part of a wider £46 million package of investment in the planning system to upskill local planners and ensure they can implement our reforms, including ensuring that everywhere has an up-to-date local plan in place. We need to inspire young people into these careers and make sure that they see the benefit of a career in planning. We are never going to be able to compete with the private sector on salary, but we can compete on the excitement of developing local places and good places for people to live, and I hope that will inspire people.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

My Lords, I invite the noble Lord, Lord Campbell-Savours, to participate remotely.

[Lord Campbell-Savours (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, do not planning reforms which fail to address land costs for housing development perpetuate a system in which high costs determine affordability of housing for sale? Again, I ask my oft-repeated question: why not examine arrangements in Nijmegen in Holland and Hammarby in Sweden, where housing for sale has been built on land acquired at agricultural prices? Indeed, we could go further by adopting new forms of title which lock in discounted affordable sale prices with occupancy and resale restrictions. We need to think out of the box in this housing crisis.