Rayner warns developers will face both “Carrot and Stick”

Secretary of State Angela Rayner MP appeared at the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee meeting on Tuesday 7 January, and warned that developers will have “their feet held to the fire” regarding Section 106 Agreements.

Citing concerns over poor infrastructure delivery in the past, Ms Rayner promised that there would be a dedicated team in her department to assist councils with holding developers to account over their S 106 Agreements, whilst also reiterating that developers were going to have to build the homes “that people need, not what they think they can get the biggest profits for”.

The Secretary of State went on to say “For building the houses, I think we’ve won the argument. The rightful challenge, and what’s happened in the past, is the houses have been built but [haven’t received] the infrastructure that was promised by developers.”

Ms Rayner also suggested, however, that this was merely one side of a ‘carrot and stick’ approach.

“The carrot is, we’re going to make [the planning system] clear, so it’s not subjective, and you’re not bouncing around”, Ms Rayner told the committee. “They have to follow the rules, but we will set the rules and we will make them very clear”.

Despite admitting that many people have been sceptical, the Housing Secretary continued to stand behind her 1.5 million homes target, claiming that this would only make “a dent” in the country’s housing crisis. She went on to reinforce that the local targets “are achievable, [and] they are mandatory”.

“I don’t lose”, Ms Rayner added. “I hate losing. I’ve always been underestimated all my life, and I’m determined personally not to lose this fight.”

Ms Rayner also looked to encourage small and medium developers, stating that the government was looking to support them to “come into the field” alongside bigger homebuilders; she also suggested the upcoming Planning and Infrastructure Bill would be introduced to Parliament in March. SP Broadway will continue to keep a keen eye out for any news on the Bill.