![Keir Starmer with a new home](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/politics/2024/07/16/TELEMMGLPICT000382542274_17211588426140_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqEAbV_z4M_b0SBMTJZ88diq7lD1tCdCh5gDbz5Z6kLSU.jpeg?imwidth=680)
Starmer pledges to ‘take the brakes off’ planning rules to build 1.5m homes
Labour Bill to be announced in King’s Speech aims to ‘turbo-charge’ house-building – including on the Green Belt
![Keir Starmer with a new home](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/politics/2024/07/16/TELEMMGLPICT000382542274_17211588426140_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqEAbV_z4M_b0SBMTJZ88diq7lD1tCdCh5gDbz5Z6kLSU.jpeg?imwidth=680)
Sir Keir Starmer will pledge to “take the brakes off Britain” by tearing up planning restrictions to build 1.5 million new homes.
The Prime Minister said he wants to create wealth around the country by unlocking economic growth as he prepared for Wednesday’s King’s Speech setting out his legislative agenda.
Planning rules will be changed so that communities are restricted to having a say on “how, not if” new homes and infrastructure are built.
The King’s Speech will unveil a number of other Bills including one to bring private rail companies into public ownership once their contracts expire, with no compensation.
It will also include an English Devolution Bill to transfer more power into local communities.
The new housing Bill will aim to “turbo-charge” and streamline the planning process to ensure more homes are built and accelerate the delivery of major infrastructure projects.
It comes after Labour’s promise last week to make it easier for councils to redraw green belt boundaries, allowing for thousands of acres of countryside to be sacrificed to build the new homes.
The Prime Minister said the 35 Bills and draft Bills in the legislative programme for the year ahead will boost growth.
But the focus on growth comes as the International Monetary Fund said it expected the British economy to grow by just 0.7 per cent in 2024.
Sir Keir said: “Now is the time to take the brakes off Britain. For too long people have been held back, their paths determined by where they came from – not their talents and hard work.
“I am determined to create wealth for people up and down the country. It is the only way our country can progress, and my Government is focused on supporting that aspiration.
“Today’s new laws will take back control and lay the foundations of real change that this country is crying out for, creating wealth in every community and making people better off – supporting their ambitions, hopes and dreams.”
New Bills in King’s Speech
The Telegraph can reveal that the King’s Speech will include plans to enable bereaved parents to access their children’s social media accounts.
Coroners will be given powers to force tech firms to unlock the accounts in cases involving children where it is believed social media played a role.
The move follows The Telegraph’s six-year duty of care campaign for new legislation to protect children from online harms.
A pledge to fast track the removal of foreign criminals is also expected to feature in the King’s Speech as part of efforts to tackle the prison overcrowding crisis.
Labour’s manifesto promised to build 1.5 million homes in the Government’s first term, and last year Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, announced that housing targets would be reinstated.
A new Planning Bill will promise to remove the “major brakes” on the planning system.
A government spokesman said: “By enabling democratic engagement with how, not if, homes and infrastructure are built, the major brakes on the planning system will be addressed to support sustainable growth.”
The party has also said more homes will be built on the green belt, particularly on unattractive parts called “grey belt”.
New legislation will be introduced to bring rail services into public ownership once their contracts expire or if operators fail to deliver on their commitments. Operators will not be entitled to compensation.
Labour says that transferring operations to the public sector will save the taxpayer millions of pounds currently paid out in fees to private operators each year and end the “fragmentation” of Britain’s railways.
The legislation will also establish a new public body, Great British Railways, focused on improving services and bringing in simplified fares, discounts and ticket types. Passengers will be automatically compensated for delays.
The King’s Speech will also include a Better Buses Bill to introduce new powers for local leaders to try and improve their bus services.
An English Devolution Bill will deliver the Government’s manifesto commitment to transfer power into local communities. There will be legislation for a new National Wealth Fund to strengthen UK investment.
Responding to the King’s Speech, Rishi Sunak will say that the Conservative Party will hold Labour to account on the promises it made during the election.
“In the national interest, we will serve as an effective opposition,” he will say. “We will not oppose for the sake of it, but when we disagree with what the Government is doing, it is our responsibility as the opposition to say so.
“The party opposite tapped into the public’s desire for change. But they must now deliver change: and we on this side of the House will hold them accountable for delivering on the commitments they made to the British people.
“The Labour Party promised no tax rises on working people and no plans for tax rises beyond what’s in their manifesto, in full knowledge of the public finances. They can’t now claim that things are worse than they thought and renege on these pledges. We will hold the government to its own promises.”