May attacks 'ill-conceived' planning reforms
Image copyright
PA Media
Theresa May has criticised the government's proposed changes to the planning system for being "ill-conceived" and "mechanistic".
The former prime minister said the use of a formula to assess housing need in England "does not guarantee a single extra home being built".
The Commons is debating a motion from another Tory MP, asking ministers to think again about its reforms.
The government said the plan was "still part of a consultation".
A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) spokeswoman added that the algorithm would be designed to "set up to deliver the new homes the country needs".
- Download your guide to housing in the UK here
- Is it true planning permission takes five years?
- Labour loses bid to overturn planning reforms
The motion, proposed by Isle of Wight MP Bob Seely, urges the government to delay the introduction of the new system - which has raised concerns among Tory backbenchers - until the Commons has a chance to fully debate and hold a meaningful vote on it.
Members may get a chance to vote on the motion - but the result would be non-binding.
Mr Seely said it was time to "stop the drift of jobs and opportunities to the South, to the shires and suburbs".
'Urban sprawl'
He added that using the algorithm to plan housing supplies would "hollow out our cities, urbanise our suburbs and suburbanise the countryside".
He gave the Commons some examples, saying that - over 15 years - the algorithm would mean 14,000 fewer homes being built in Manchester, but 10,000 more in east Cheshire.
The number for Nottingham would fall by 3,700, while the number for Nottinghamshire would rise by 25,000, he said.
And in Southampton the number would fall by 2,500, compared with a 26,000 increase for Hampshire.
Mr Seely said the "glaring exception" among cities was London, where house building would have to rise by an "astonishing" amount.
'Sucking growth'
Mrs May, MP for Maidenhead, said: "This is a mechanistic approach and it's ill-conceived."
The planning system needed to "ensure the right number of homes are built in the right places", she added, arguing that the algorithm "builds up planning permissions, but not houses".
"The government does need to think again on this and it needs to understand the impact the proposals it's put forward is going to have," Mrs May said.
Other senior Conservatives also voiced concerns.
Former Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said "simply increasing housing targets" did not help people unable to get on the housing ladder.
He argued that councils would be forced to "encroach" on greenbelt land.
Former cabinet minister Chris Grayling also criticised the algorithm, saying it would "continue to suck economic growth, the brightest and best people in our society, [and] opportunity into the South East of England".
This was "exactly the opposite of what this country actually needs to achieve", he told MPs.
But earlier, an MHCLG spokeswoman said, as the plan was still out for consultation, "the figures reported are entirely speculative".
She added: "It has been over two years since the current formula was introduced, so we need to make sure it is set up to deliver the new homes the country needs."
The spokeswoman added that the government was not proposing "targets" but "a guide for councils on how many homes may be needed in their area".
She said: "This would be first stage in the process to measure demand, and as before, environmental constraints like greenbelt and land availability will be taken into account."
The formula is part of wider government plans to overturn the planning system.
The government said its proposals - open to consultation until 29 October - included allowing more building on brownfield land, ensuring all new streets are tree-lined and requiring new homes to be "zero-carbon-ready".
Challenged about the subject at Prime Minister's Questions, Boris Johnson insisted there was "an abundance of brownfield spaces across the whole of the UK".
