Homes plans overhaul

ANGELA Rayner has announced an overhaul of the planning system to pave the way for 1.5 million new homes over the next five years to tackle England's acute housing crisis.

Mandatory housing targets, scrapped by the previous Tory government, will be restored and some low-quality green-belt land will be freed up for construction under the plans.

Changes made to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) by Rishi Sunak's administration will be reversed as the new Government seeks to quickly ramp up capacity.

Labour blamed the Conservativess changes for hampering housing supply more than expected, unveiling forecasts that fewer than 200,000 homes would be built in 2024-25 under Tory policies far below their annual 300,000 target.