THE public will rightly want to know what Labour’s housebuilding bonanza means for their local communities. 

One of the first actions of the new Labour government has been to significantly increase the housebuilding target. We now know Cornwall’s target will be cranked up to 4,500 homes each and every year. That’s up from the 2,700 under the existing target.  

The Labour government are deploying a great big stick. I do not see any carrots, but I do see three main problems with these reforms.  

Firstly, the housebuilding target isn’t being applied fairly across the whole country. Certainly, there are some regions that aren’t meeting their targets. Cornwall was not one of them. It feels like punishing those who were already doing their jobs properly, by lumping more housebuilding in areas like Cornwall. Meanwhile, London’s housebuilding target is actually being cut.  

Secondly, there are well over one-million outstanding planning permissions that have been approved, but are yet to be built. If the housebuilders can’t make a site profitable, they won’t proceed with it. Labour says they are going to set up a new taskforce to unlock those sites. What I suspect this means in reality, is housebuilders being let off the hook for providing the infrastructure alongside the development; such as schools, biodiversity enhancements or roads. Do the government want housebuilding at any price?   

And thirdly local democracy. Planning and local democracy is already a contentious thing. It is often uncomfortable for councillor to vote for/or against something they know to be wrong, but it is alas policy compliant. Applications are determined against pre-set policy, not common sense. Labour have said they intend to take more planning decisions centrally in London, rather than leave it to local council’s – I suspect they will only do that if they think the council is at risk of blocking major housebuilding schemes.  

There is a raft of reasons why housebuilding isn’t being delivered at the target set by central government. Simply increasing the target, delivering a bit less infrastructure and taking more decisions in London will not, in my view, solve that problem. Sure, planning might need reform, but is this it? I think the government should be looking at the lack of skilled trades, builders, plumbers and electricians, etc. that is causing real issues for construction companies. Infrastructure spending is also being cut by this new government, if housebuilders are not compelled to provide infrastructure either, then what?

Also, for areas like Cornwall the large contractors are much rarer. Cornwall Council set up its own development company called Treveth, who are building homes across the county, including 46 here in Liskeard where I am the local councillor. All 46 of those homes have been let to people with local connections to Liskeard. It’s a big success for locals, but highlights the demand for private rented accommodation. The war on private landlords may well be a noble one, but there are consequences. It may make some landlords consider selling-up, and we lose more private rented home. This is a fine balance.  

Overall, there are clearly concerns for areas like Cornwall with these reforms. To be fair to Labour on this, they promoted this before the general election – Sir Kier Starmer said his government would be on the side of the “builders, not the blockers”. Quite how true this will be when policy in London collides with reality in Cornwall. The so-called blockers are passionate local people, who care deeply about their community on the one side, and Labour MPs with small majorities, on the other. 

Nick Craker

Conservative Cornwall councillor for Liskeard