Reports in the Financial Times suggest that the party wants to adapt the way that land is valued when being bought through CPOs. It is understood that Lisa Nandy, the shadow levelling up secretary, wants to change the rules so that ‘hope value’ is not factored in with such purchases.
Under the current setup, when a council purchases land through a CPO, they must include the potential for future planning permissions when working out the price. This makes the purchases more expensive, which can impact the chances of the land being used to develop affordable housing.
The value of land with planning permission has grown substantially in recent decades, with research from the Centre for Progressive Policy think tank suggesting that land with planning permission is on average worth £6.2m per hectare, compared with £22,520 per hectare for agricultural land.
An aide told the newspaper: “We want to tilt the balance of power. It feels like the scales are tilted towards . . . landowners, we want to re-tilt it towards the communities that want to see more houses built.”
Housebuilding looks set to be a big topic in the next election. Last year the government dropped its plans to introduce compulsory housebuilding targets following a rebellion from backbench MPs.
And last month Michael Gove, the housing secretary, admitted that the housing model was “broken”, with greater levels of housebuilding needed.
