Homes on green belt: Rachel Reeves sets out homebuilding plans to boost growth in first speech as Chancellor

8 July 2024, 00:08 | Updated: 8 July 2024, 05:10

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has vowed to allow homes on greenbelt land as part of a plan to kickstart the UK's economic growth.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has vowed to allow homes on greenbelt land as part of a plan to kickstart the UK's economic growth. Picture: Alamy

By Chay Quinn

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has vowed to allow homes on greenbelt land as part of a plan to kickstart the UK's economic growth.

Listen to this article

Loading audio...

The newly elected Chancellor has vowed to make "difficult decisions" because there is "no time to waste" when boosting growth in her first major speech later today.

Labour will allow building on some greenbelt land, promising to take a "more strategic approach" to "build more homes in the right places".

The UK's first female Treasury chief said Labour will "fix the foundations" of the British economy while claiming that 14 years of Tory rule had cost £140 billion in lost growth.

Read More: Starmer unveils new cabinet as he appoints Angela Rayner deputy prime minister and Rachel Reeves as chancellor

Read More: Labour MP 'has home attacked with sledgehammer' after Jess Phillips intimidation during election

Sir Keir Starmer's administration has made faster economic growth, and the tax revenues that would flow from it, a key plank of its strategy to fund public services which are struggling for cash.

The Labour manifesto committed to wholesale planning reforms to make it easier to build and a greater focus on driving through key infrastructure projects which have become mired in delays and boost housebuilding.

The manifesto pledged to "immediately" update the National Policy Planning Framework to undo changes made by the Conservatives, including restoring mandatory housing targets.

London, UK. 06th July, 2024. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves arrives at Number 10 Downing street for her first day as a cabinet minister in London. (Photo by Fred Duval/SOPA Images/Sipa USA) Credit: Sipa US/Alamy Live News
The newly elected Chancellor has vowed to make "difficult decisions" because there is "no time to waste" when boosting growth in her first major speech. Picture: Alamy

The party also plans to allow building on some greenbelt land, promising to take a "more strategic approach" to "build more homes in the right places".

Speaking in London, Ms Reeves will tell business chiefs: "Where governments have been unwilling to take the difficult decisions to deliver growth - or have waited too long to act - I will deliver.

"It is now a national mission. There is no time to waste."

She will set out the steps the Government has taken to "fix the foundations of our economy, so we can rebuild Britain and make every part of our country better off".

With forecasts for the public finances indicating a squeeze of up to £20 billion in spending on departments where budgets are not protected, Labour will rely on increased growth to keep its twin promises of not returning to austerity and avoiding tax hikes beyond the measures it has already announced.

The Chancellor will say that failing to keep pace with the average level of growth in the OECD group of developed countries has cost the Exchequer £58 billion in tax revenue.

Aerial view from drone of new build housing development estate next to farming corn field at Ledbury Herefordshire  - photo May 2024
Labour will allow building on some greenbelt land, promising to take a "more strategic approach" to "build more homes in the right places". Picture: Alamy

Ms Reeves will say: "We face the legacy of 14 years of chaos and economic irresponsibility.

"New Treasury analysis I requested over the weekend exposed the opportunities lost from this failure.

"Had the UK economy grown at the average rate of OECD economies since 2010, it would have been over £140 billion larger.

"This could have brought in an additional £58 billion in tax revenues last year alone to sustain our public services.

"It falls to this new Government to fix the foundations."

The Treasury indicated Ms Reeves would announce swift changes to unblock infrastructure and private investment.

Ms Reeves has previously branded the planning system "the greatest single obstacle" to economic success.

Labour's manifesto committed to a 10-year infrastructure strategy to guide investment plans and give the private sector certainty about the project pipeline and the creation of a National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority to oversee schemes.

The Chancellor Of The Exchequer Leaves Downing Street To Present The 2017 Budget To Parliament
The Treasury indicated Ms Reeves would announce swift changes to unblock infrastructure and private investment. Picture: Getty

The manifesto also promised to update planning policy to make it easier to build laboratories, digital infrastructure and gigafactories as well as 1.5 million homes.

The Institute for Government think tank called on Ms Reeves to commit to a series of changes, including a multi-year spending review and a wider mandate for the Office for Budget Responsibility.

IfG deputy economist Tom Pope said: "Rachel Reeves has the opportunity to set her stall out early and secure a lasting legacy by reforming how fiscal policy is made.

"She has already made welcome commitments to strengthening the role of the OBR and holding only one major fiscal event each year.

"But she should go further, including by reforming the fiscal rules and committing to a new approach to spending reviews, if she wants to deliver on the new government's missions and break the cycle of excessive and unstrategic policy tinkering that has undermined her predecessors."

More Latest News

See more More Latest News

Jose Mourinho was appointed Fenerbahce manager in 2024

Galatasaray accuse Fenerbahce boss Jose Mourinho of making 'racist statements'

Exclusive
Ofcom will 'name and shame' social media companies that don't take action to cut down abuse of women and girls

Social media companies to be 'named and shamed' for not protecting women and girls online, Ofcom chief tells LBC

Video footage shows police rushing towards the Hart Space during the attack

Horror footage shows moment police rush towards Southport dance studio while killer is still inside

Registered XL Bully dogs must be housed securely, neutered, kept on a lead and muzzled in public

Man in his 80s seriously injured after XL bully attack in Warrington

Ocean Infinity is searching for the downed plane

British team launches 'final search' for MH370, in bid to solve mystery of vanished plane 11 years on

The BBC has pulled the documentary from iPlayer while it does more 'due diligence'

BBC Gaza documentary cameraman ‘celebrated October 7 attacks’ as cost of film is revealed

Bessborough Road, where the crash took place

Pedestrian in her 40s killed in London bus crash as car driver arrested for dangerous driving

Energy bills are set to rise again

Energy bills to increase again as price cap rises more than expected

Exclusive
Boris Johnson has said the UK should spend more on defence

UK should spend 3% of GDP on defence and could send up to 10,000 troops to Ukraine, Boris Johnson tells LBC

Mitchell Ring was forced to sit near the body for several hours

Couple forced to sit next to dead woman for hours after she collapsed on long-haul flight

Ambassador Dorothy Camille Shea, chargé d'affaires ad interim of the United States, speaks during a United Nations Security Council meeting on Ukraine

US sides with Russia twice in failed UN votes over Ukraine, as assembly calls for end to war

One person has died after a bus crash in Harrow

One dead in horror London bus crash, as three left injured

"The tariffs are going forward on time, on schedule," Trump said.

Trump says 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico 'will go forward' in March after month-long delay

Police could soon be able to enter homes where stolen phones have been tracked to, without having to ask a court first.

Police to be given new powers to search homes for stolen phones without warrants under flagship Bill

Clint Hill, the US secret service agent who leapt onto the back of John F Kennedy's limousine after the president was shot, has died aged 93.

Secret Service agent who jumped onto JFK’s limousine after assassination Clint Hill dies aged 93

Roberta Flack

Tributes flood in for Roberta Flack, 'Killing Me Softly' singer and R&B icon