'Get Britain building again': Reeves unveils Labour govt's growth plan

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves, in her first major speech on Monday, vowed to "get Britain building again," as she unveiled a slew of planning reforms including restoring mandatory local housing targets ditched by the previous Conservative government and ending an effective ban on onshore wind farms.

As the party tries to ride the momentum of its landslide UK election win last week in a dash for economic growth, Reeves also vowed to overhaul the National Planning Policy Framework by the end of the month, and a relaxation of planning restrictions on less attractive parts of the so-called green belt, as part of a housebuilding overhaul overseen by Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary Angela Rayner.

"What we want is for infrastructure to be built, housing to be built, the energy system to be more sustainable," Reeves's deputy, Darren Jones, said on BBC TV on Monday. "Our key focus is on speeding up the planning system." Reeves's plan is based on crowding in billions of pounds of private investment by creating new financial instruments to stimulate demand from institutional investors, Bloomberg reported before the election.