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Louise Thomas
Editor
Members of Sir Keir Starmer’s cabinet have had housing targets in their constituencies slashed, despite a government push to build hundreds of thousands of new homes across the UK.
Announcing new targets for housebuilding, deputy prime minister Angela Rayner this week told MPs that “we must all play our part” in the plan to build more homes.
She unveiled a major overhaul of the planning system last week, which will see all councils in England given mandatory housing targets as part of a plan to deliver 1.5 million more homes in the UK.
But the targets, which were calculated by an algorithm, will fall in many constituencies held by cabinet ministers, analysis by the Daily Mail has shown.
Camden, Sir Keir’s constituency, has seen its annual target cut from 2,842 to 2,715. Tottenham, where David Lammy is an MP, has seen its target cut from 3,431 to 2,716.
Wes Streeting’s constituency, Redbridge, has had its target cut by more than a third from 3,682 a year to 2,270.
Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall has seen the yearly target in her constituency, Leicester, cut from 2,435 per year to just 1,690.
Sheffield, transport secretary Louise Haigh’s constituency, has seen its target cut from cut from 3,036 to 2,667.
And in Bristol, the constituency of treasury chief secretary Darren Jones, the target has been slashed from 3,378 to 3,057.
One of the most significant reductions will take place in housing minister Matthew Pennycook’s constituency of Greenwich, which will see a 40 per cent reduction, from 4,077 to 2,396.
While there has been some increase in targets in the constituencies of some cabinet ministers, such as chancellor Rachel Reeves and education secretary Bridget Philipson, the outcome across the cabinet is different from the shadow cabinet, which will be forced to absorb large numbers of new homes.
Rishi Sunak’s North Yorkshire constituency has seen its housing target triple in size, from 1,361 to 4,232.
James Cleverly has seen the target in his Braintree constituency increase by a quarter, from 813 homes a year to 1,098.
Waverly, Jeremy Hunt’s constituency, has had its target increase by almost double from 710 to 1,374.
Meanwhile, East Hampshire, shadow education secretary Damian Hinds’ constituency, has seen its target jump from 575 to 1,074.
Overall, targets for Tory-run councils increased by an average of 43.3 per cent, while those for Labour authorities went up by an average of 7.2 per cent.
Speaking in the Commons last week, Ms Rayner warned that Britain is facing the “most acute housing crisis in living memory”, claiming that the number of new homes is set to drop below 200,000 this year – something she dubbed “unforgivable”.
The overall housing target for the UK will increase to 370,000, replacing the previous Tory government’s advisory target of 300,000 homes per year.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has been contacted for comment.
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