In full: Angela Rayner ’will force councils to build houses if they miss targets’

Angela Rayner has vowed to impose housebuilding plans on councils that refuse to meet new targets under a major overhaul of the planning system. The Deputy Prime Minister said she “will not hesitate” to intervene in areas that don’t build enough as she released swathes of the green belt for development. Speaking in the House of Commons, she unveiled sweeping planning reforms designed to unblock construction and deliver 1.5 million new homes by 2030. Ms Rayner announced that she is re-imposing mandatory housing targets, which were scrapped by Rishi Sunak, and increasing them from 300,000 a year to 370,000 a year. She said that as a result of the former prime minister’s decision to remove them, the delivery of new homes is projected to dip below 200,000 this year. Under her plan councils that fail to provide enough homes will be made to build on low quality “grey belt” land, such as disused car parks, in the green belt. Ms Rayner warned that two-thirds of local autho