Rishi Sunak pledges to boost housing stock to win over young voters
Rishi Sunak pledges to boost housing stock to win over young voters with chance to get on property ladder
- Rishi Sunak wants to ‘build the next generation of Tory voters’ with housing vow
- He said he will tackle ‘land-banking’ – developers buying land but not building
- They will have to finish a project before they starting a new one in the same area
Rishi Sunak will today vow to ‘build the next generation of Tory voters’ with a pledge to ensure houses are put up more quickly by tackling ‘land-banking’.
The Tory leadership candidate will promise to drive up rates of house-building so more people can get on the property ladder.
He plans to do this by cracking down on ‘land-banking’, where developers acquire land but do not develop it in order to make more money.
Mr Sunak says it will revitalise the market and allow younger people a better chance to buy a first home.
Tory leadership candidate Rishi Sunak (pictured) will promise to drive up rates of house-building so more people can get on the property ladder
Mr Sunak’s proposals will require developers to finish a project before they can be granted new planning permission for other plots in the same local area
‘We are the standard bearers for capitalism. But we can’t expect future generations to share our belief in capitalism if they can’t get their hands on capital,’ he will say.
‘That’s why I’ll do whatever it takes to build affordable, plentiful housing, building the next generation of Conservative voters.’
Mr Sunak’s proposals will require developers to finish a project before they can be granted new planning permission for other plots in the same local area.
Councils will also have greater ‘compulsory purchase’ powers, allowing them to buy undeveloped land at a discount if it has not been built on in the agreed time frame.
If developers do not put up houses on the land they have bought within a certain time period, they could also face a hefty ‘build-out’ levy, Mr Sunak has said.
So that existing local communities are not overwhelmed by new residents, he has also pledged a new ‘infrastructure first guarantee’, which aims to ensure all new homes are supported by enough local GP capacity, schools and road networks.
The promises follow evidence that there are a huge number of homes which have been granted planning permission but are yet to be built.
Mr Sunak’s leadership rival Liz Truss has said she will put an end to ‘Whitehall-inspired Stalinist housing targets’ if she is given the keys to No 10, pushing for tax cuts and deregulation to encourage developers to build more new homes.
She said she would amend the Levelling Up Bill to replace centralised targets with tax cuts and reduce red tape in ‘opportunity zones’ to make it easier and quicker for developers to build on brownfield land in order ‘to get our economy moving’.
Liz Truss (pictured) has said she will put an end to ‘Whitehall-inspired Stalinist housing targets’ if elected Tory leader and becomes prime minister
She also said last night she wanted to make housing more accessible for young people. One plan would be to allow a history of paying rent on time to be used to help people get a mortgage on a home.
During a grilling from the public in a Sky News TV debate, she said: ‘When somebody does rent they should be able to use their rental history towards getting a mortgage for their home and that will help people who are long-term renters get on to the housing ladder.’
With ballots being sent out in the coming days, Miss Truss and Mr Sunak aimed to win the support of the 160,000 or so party members in order to become prime minister. Last night a poll suggested Miss Truss would beat Sir Keir Starmer in a general election if it was called now.
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