Flagship planning reforms which are “critical” to the delivery of Labour’s pledge to build 1.5 million homes have cleared the Commons.
MPs voted by 306 to 174, majority 132, to approve the Planning and Infrastructure Bill at third reading on Tuesday evening.
Housing minister Matthew Pennycook said the Bill, which aims to improve certainty and decision-making in the planning system, will help to tackle the UK’s housing crisis.
Meanwhile, shadow housing secretary Kevin Hollinrake described the draft legislation as “dangerous” and warned it could lead to “rows of uninspiring concrete boxes”.
Speaking in the Commons, Mr Pennycook said: “This landmark Bill will get Britain building again, unleash economic growth and deliver on the promise of national renewal.
“It is critical in helping the Government achieving its ambitious plan for change milestone of building 1.5 million safe and decent homes in England in this Parliament.
“When it comes to delivering new homes and critical infrastructure, the status quo is patently failing the country and failing the British people.
“We can and we must do things differently, this Bill will enable us to do so. It is transformative. It will fundamentally change how we build things in this country, and in doing so it will help us tackle the housing crisis and raise living standards in every part of the country.”
Mr Hollinrake argued it is not possible to “concrete our way to community”, adding: “This Bill, in its current form, is not just flawed, it is dangerous. It risks eroding trust in the planning system and widening the gulf between government and the governed.
“We need homes for first-time buyers, for young families, for key workers, for the next generation. But we need the right homes in the right places, shaped by the right principles.
“What are we being offered instead is a top-down model driven by arbitrary targets and central dictats. The result: solar settlements, identikit developments, rows of uninspiring concrete boxes that bear no relation to the history, the heritage or the hopes of the communities they are building.”
This comes after Labour MPs rebelled on Monday over the Government’s plans to change current nature protections in the planning system.
Campaigners have raised concerns the Bill will allow developers to effectively disregard environmental rules and community concerns, increasing the risk of sewage in rivers, flooding and loss of valued woods and parks.
Mr Pennycook said the “suboptimal status quo” for the environment and development is not working, as he pledged to introduce a nature restoration fund to bolster conservation efforts.
He added: “We want to take forward a new strategic approach across wider geographies, ensuring that Natural England bring forward plans that go beyond offsetting harm to driving nature recovery as well as unlocking development.”
During the Bill’s report stage on Tuesday, Conservative former minister Robbie Moore accused the Government of permitting “absolute theft” in its compulsory purchase order (CPO) reforms.
The Bill will allow an inspector or, where there are no objectors, authorities to remove “hope value” from land when a CPO is made, meaning any uplift calculated on the basis that a developer could be given planning permission in future is ignored.
The MP for Keighley and Ilkley said: “So-called ‘hope value’ is not a capitalist trick, it is not a racket, it is not unfair, it is simply the true market value of the property.
“Property rights matter. They are the foundation of our society.
“If the state chooses to use its powers to confiscate property of a law-abiding person and then they must stipulate on how that land must be used, and then tell the landowner how much they are entitled to receive from the state, that is wrong and in my view is an absolute theft of private property.”
Labour MP Chris Hinchliff urged the Government to go further, calling for it to remove “hope value” for any land or property which is being compulsory-purchased for the purpose of delivering housing targets.
The North East Hertfordshire MP said his amendment 68 would “give councils the land assembly powers necessary to acquire sites to meet local housing need at current use value, and so do away with speculative hope value prices, which put taxpayers’ money into wealthy landowners pockets”.
“This would finally make it affordable for local authorities to deliver the new generation of council homes. That is the true solution to this nation’s housing crisis,” he added.
The Government has previously said it will ensure that compensation paid to landowners through the CPO process is “fair but not excessive” and that development corporations can operate effectively.
The Bill will now be sent to the House of Lords for further scrutiny.
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