Penny Mordaunt says she would abandon housing targets if she wins leadership race
“I will change the system. I will champion a brownfield building boom”
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Penny Mordaunt would ditch housing targets if she enters Downing Street, saying they have been “tested to destruction”.
Foreign secretary Liz Truss, who remains behind Ms Mordaunt in the race to become the next Tory leader, has already hit out at so-called “Stalinist” housing targets.
Ms Mordaunt used a piece in the Daily Telegraph to claim that the current government house-building policy is “not working” and is trapped in a “broken pattern”.
She wrote: “I will change the system. I will champion a brownfield building boom, and do more to protect precious greenfields.
“We will build better, and we will do it using incentives, infrastructure, investment and innovation.
“To start with incentives, it’s important to realise that mandatory housing targets for councils don’t work.
“It is an idea that has been tested to destruction over many years, and it’s time to face the fact that they’ve been a failure everywhere. So we will abolish housebuilding targets and replace them with incentives.”
Ms Mordaunt, who is vying to retain her lead against Ms Truss and Kemi Badenoch in the fourth ballot of Tory MPs on Tuesday, promises to extend development rights to allow “build up not out” in urban areas.
She also pledges to “stop land banking and speed up building for sites that already have planning permissions, especially brownfield sites”.
She added: “There are thousands of unbuilt sites all over the country waiting for construction to start. My priority will be to scrap the bureaucracy that prevents shovels from getting into the ground.”
One solution she proposes would see the creation of development corporations, described as “potentially new towns”.
“They will create jobs and homes – especially for young and first-time buyers – and regenerate city and town centres throughout the UK. We’ll cut red tape to do so,” she said.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments