Recommendation 16

HM Government Acknowledged

69. The Government will publish a Long-Term Housing Strategy shortly, which will bring together the significant programme of reform that the Government has undertaken since taking office in July 2024. This includes the three priority areas that form part of our strategy to delivering 1.5 million new homes – fixing the foundations of our development sector, including through ambitious planning reform; transforming the housebuilding industry through investment in skills and supporting a greater diversity of developers to build at scale; and building a new generation of social and affordable homes. 70. Immediately on taking office, the Government published a revised NPPF, reversing the supply-negative policies of the previous Government, and launched the New Homes Accelerator to accelerate the delivery of homes on sites across the country. 71. At the Spending Review, Government announced a record £39 billion of funding to accelerate social and affordable housebuilding across the country, alongside confirming £16 billion to create a new National Housing Bank. The Government prioritised passing the landmark Planning and Infrastructure Act, which gained Royal Assent in December 2025. 72. The Government has recently announced significant further policy interventions in support of reaching 1.5m homes. These include the October 2025 measures to support London housebuilding; the December 2025 consultation launch on the most significant rewrite of planning rules in more than a decade; and the January 2026 road map outlining next steps to improve the s106 system. Additionally, the Government recently launched Phase 2 of the New Homes Accelerator programme, and confirmed WECA as the national delivery partner for our Small Sites Aggregator pilot. 73. The Government notes the committee’s appetite to understand the expected individual impact of the actions taken so far in relation to 1.5m. The Department publishes regular data on housing starts, completions, the planning system and affordable housing to support scrutiny of the delivery of 1.5m homes. For the first time, the Department now publishes quarterly estimates of the number of net additions that have been delivered during the Parliament on a much more timely basis. This is consistent with the Government’s broader commitment to provide transparency around progress to 1.5 million. 74. The Government notes the committee’s recommendation to move the plan making system to a 30-month timeline. Local plans play an essential role in the delivery of new homes. Regulations that will commence the new plan- making system will be laid in Parliament shortly with the new system coming into force early this year. New local plans will be expected to be prepared and adopted within 30 months and to then be kept up-to-date. 75. As such, our reforms will make it easier and faster for LPAs to get effective and meaningful plans in place, providing better opportunities for communities to shape the way areas meet their needs and change over time. The reforms will make local plans simpler for end users to access and understand, and will enable the delivery of plan-led sustainable development that benefits people and improves places. Epilogue