Leeds City Council has been required by the Tory LibDem Coalition Government to identify land for housing development in Leeds North West.
Angry and anxious residents will be surprised to learn the builders are hoarding land elsewhere and not building.
Labour has plans to do something about it.
Ed Miliband used a major speech to Labour’s Policy Forum in Birmingham last week to issue a warning to developers.
‘If there is unnecessary hoarding developers should be encouraged to do what they are in business to do – build homes.’
A Labour government would be ready to penalise developers who fail to build on land with planning permission.
In his speech Ed Miliband revealed that planning permission has been granted for 400,000 homes – equivalent to a city the size of Birmingham. These homes have not yet been built. In London alone 45% of land with planning permission for housing is in the hands of firms who do not build.
He set out proposals to give councils powers to charge developers fees for unnecessarily sitting on land or, as a last resort, serve them with a compulsory purchase order.
“Across our country there are firms sitting on land waiting for it to accumulate in value and not building on it.”
“All options should be on the table, including giving local authorities the power to say to the wort offenders. . .either use the land, or lose the land.”
Adel and Wharfedale Branch 