Labour vows to impose compulsory local housebuilding targets that were ditched by the Tories

A bitter ‘concreting the countryside’ row erupted last night after Labour vowed to impose compulsory local housebuilding targets ditched by the Tories.

In the week of crucial local elections, Sir Keir Starmer pledged to take on ‘speculators and Nimbyism [not in my back yard] in the name of the next generation of homeowners’.

Boasting that Labour was ‘the party of home ownership’, he branded Rishi Sunak ‘weak and reckless’ for abandoning a similar compulsory housebuilding plan last year in the face of a Tory backbench rebellion.

But Theresa Villiers, Tory MP for Chipping Barnet, hit back, saying: ‘Excessive compulsory housebuilding targets are a recipe for concreting over the countryside.

‘That’s why the Government rightly dropped this idea and it’s why Starmer’s plan will damage the environment.’

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove added that ‘you can’t take Labour seriously on housing’, saying it had attacked the Government’s previous policy as a ‘developers’ charter’.

Sir Keir Starmer pledged to take on ‘speculators and Nimbyism [not in my back yard] in the name of the next generation of homeowners’

Starmer also branded Rishi Sunak ‘weak and reckless’ for abandoning a similar compulsory housebuilding plan last year in the face of a Tory backbench rebellion

The row broke ahead of Thursday’s local elections involving more than 8,000 seats in 230 English councils in a contest seen as hugely important for the Tories and Labour ahead of the next General Election.

Both major parties have been accused of playing down their prospects, with the Tories fearing losses of more than 1,000 seats and Labour predicting that a net gain of just 400 overall would be a success for the party.

Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk