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00:01Britain is in a housing crisis.
00:04When I complained about the rent going out, they said if I didn't I'd be evicted.
00:07With rents and house prices so high, many people can't afford a place to live.
00:13There is so much to cover that it's completely overwhelming.
00:17For decades, Britain has simply not built enough homes.
00:21We are so deep in this crisis, it's really difficult to articulate how deep we are.
00:26The government says it's tackling the problem.
00:29Today we launch a new plan to get Britain building again.
00:33It's time to build one and a half million new homes across the country.
00:37I'm Justin Rowlatt.
00:39This isn't really what I was expecting, you know, cocktails on the lawn.
00:43This place is huge.
00:45And I'm Anita Rani.
00:47I'm gonna just take a step back.
00:49We've been travelling across England.
00:52Now the average house price here is ten times the average local wage.
00:56To uncover some of the challenges to building one and a half million homes.
01:00We all know you're not supposed to build on the greenbelt.
01:04But what actually is the greenbelt?
01:07Do you ever just want to throw your hands up and say what's the point?
01:11Hitting the target will need a level of house building we haven't achieved for decades.
01:18Yeah, our generation, they want things handed to them.
01:21Unfortunately, this is hard work.
01:23So can it be done?
01:25We are going to build baby build because that is the only way we tackle the housing crisis that we're facing in this country.
01:31I'm not going to stand here and say 1.5 million is doable because it is going to be very, very difficult.
01:37Deep in the English countryside, I'm heading to a place that's key to building homes.
01:52And helping solve a housing crisis that has been brewing for decades.
01:58Across the UK, the cost of housing has rocketed.
02:02Real terms, house prices up 150% in the last 30 years.
02:08In some areas, rents are up more than 10% in the last year alone.
02:14To begin to address that, the government has set the target of building one and a half million homes by the end of the parliament in 2029.
02:22Now, that means building more than 300,000 homes a year.
02:28That's 100,000, 50% more than we're building at the moment.
02:32More homes than we've built since the 1960s.
02:35And it means we're going to need a hell of a lot of these.
02:40We're going to need a hell of a lot of bricks.
02:46This site in Surrey has a long history of digging up clay and baking bricks.
02:52It's like a handful of...
03:02Whoa!
03:04Yeah, so it's almost like little scales.
03:08Yeah.
03:09I'm going to have to say, Simon, it looks a bit like mud.
03:13That's all we do.
03:14We brickmakers, we dig mud.
03:16Dig mud and make it into bricks.
03:17We shape it into bricks, we dry it and then we fire again.
03:20Can we touch it?
03:22For the sake of that, we could touch it.
03:24Yeah.
03:25Just feel it, isn't it?
03:27Very smooth.
03:30Oh, like cheese cutters.
03:32So the water's cut through it and then it spits it out.
03:34That's it.
03:35This factory turns out 100,000 bricks a day.
03:39It's very delicate, isn't it?
03:40I do like watching that.
03:41I like to watch the robot work.
03:44We make more than a billion bricks a year in the UK.
03:47And you should be able to break that now, I would guess.
03:52Yeah.
03:56So, that was a perfectly good brick until a minute ago.
03:59I think we found the problem in the house.
04:03Finally, the bricks head for the kiln.
04:06So, you could really feel the heat coming off here.
04:09Seriously, I mean, too hot to touch.
04:13Oh, wow.
04:15It's almost molten at that point.
04:17Yeah.
04:18It's that hot.
04:19Yeah, you're in a thousand degrees there.
04:21And that's what it takes to make a brick.
04:23That's amazing.
04:24To reach the government's target, building materials manufacturers will have to significantly ramp up production.
04:34As a materials producer, can you produce the materials needed to build those homes?
04:39I think the majority of construction product producers within the UK and the near continent that supply the UK market would be capable of ramping up to that.
04:50But even if we can make enough, there's a problem for the government's target.
04:56In the last five years, the cost of making things like bricks has gone through the roof.
05:02It's one factor that's pushed up the cost of building new homes.
05:09And we've seen energy costs rise.
05:11What effect does that have on your brick business?
05:13That significantly increased the cost of production.
05:16There's no way around that, you know.
05:18We can't produce bricks using less gas.
05:21We are running them as efficiently as they can be.
05:23So all that does is put pressure upwards on your production costs.
05:27The prices of most of the components that you need to build a house will have gone up over the last five years.
05:32Another challenge to ramping up house building is that we don't have enough builders.
05:47It's estimated that the industry will need nearly a quarter of a million more workers to meet the target.
05:53Everything from surveyors through to brickies.
05:56We'll need 3,000 new plasterers for a start.
06:00This is great!
06:02It's not bad.
06:03How long have you been doing it?
06:04Just over a year.
06:05Yeah, just over a year.
06:06Enjoying it?
06:07I'm really enjoying it.
06:08I'm an electrician and a decorator.
06:09I've done all my courses here through the years.
06:13And so I've come back to do the plaster.
06:16This is very good.
06:17Yeah, so now I do all three at once.
06:19If you call me out, you get your job done completely.
06:21I'll take your cards before I finish.
06:23This is the College of North West London where they train everyone from carpenters to heat pump engineers.
06:30They run full-time courses and provide training for apprentices employed by private companies.
06:36So we scoop some material onto our hook and we do a thing called spotting.
06:44Get some product onto your trowel and then you're applying it for the wool.
06:49You made that look so easy.
06:51It is.
06:52How are you doing all of this with your...
06:53OK.
06:54All right, so it goes on.
06:55That's it.
06:56Straight onto the hook.
06:57Lovely.
06:58Spot it.
06:59OK.
07:00Off the...
07:01That'll do for now.
07:02Right.
07:03Get it to the wool.
07:04Right.
07:05Nearly.
07:06Yeah.
07:07That's it.
07:08You're in.
07:09Keep that trowel.
07:10You're even talking like a plasterer.
07:13Put your mouth.
07:15There you go.
07:16Right.
07:17Get some more gear on that hook.
07:18Right.
07:19Come on then.
07:20Right.
07:22Put that on top.
07:23That's fine.
07:24Like I said, it's one of the hardest things.
07:26It's so hard.
07:27OK.
07:28Do you think we need to do more to encourage young people to get into this sector?
07:31Oh, without a shadow of a doubt.
07:32Do you think there's a snobbery around construction?
07:34Oh, without a shadow of a doubt.
07:35Yeah.
07:36Fundamentally, there's always been a disconnect between professionals and construction workers
07:40or tradespeople.
07:41Over recent decades, more and more young people have gone to university.
07:46Further education colleges have sometimes felt neglected.
07:50Now the government has announced £600 million in extra funding for training construction workers,
07:56including more money for colleges like this.
07:59I would say that funding has improved recently, but the sector has been underfunded now for nearly two decades.
08:07So what would you like to see happen?
08:09There is a challenge in our sector of getting the right people to deliver this training and education.
08:14The reality is that our teachers earn more money in the trade than they do in education.
08:20And that is a chronic problem with our sector.
08:26Tens of thousands of EU workers have left UK construction since 2019, due largely to Brexit and the pandemic.
08:34It's proving a challenge to bring young trainees and apprentices like these into the industry.
08:39But why?
08:41Maybe the money.
08:43The money in an apprenticeship isn't great when you first start.
08:45You don't want to work hard.
08:46Come on, tell me.
08:47People don't really want to work hard.
08:48Is that right?
08:49Are you talking about your generation?
08:50Yeah, our generation.
08:51They want things handed to them, unfortunately.
08:54This is hard work.
08:55Some people, they don't want to think for themselves.
08:57They just want people to tell them what to do.
08:59Oh, could you just copy and paste this?
09:02Or could you go and do this?
09:03Office work.
09:04Yeah, office work.
09:05Easy stuff, isn't it?
09:06Do you know what I mean?
09:07But this, you have to use your own brain.
09:08You have to think.
09:09You have to work things out.
09:10You have to pre-think.
09:13Neil Jefferson is the chief executive of the Home Builders Federation, which represents private house building companies.
09:20Essentially, we're losing capacity, not gaining.
09:22The numbers are going in the wrong way.
09:24But we have got this ongoing issue, which really comes from the fact that we've got an aging population out on site,
09:30with more than 25% of our current workforce being aged over 50.
09:34Well, hold on a second.
09:35Only 38% of construction companies take on apprentices.
09:39If there's a skills shortage, it's because your industry, your members, aren't doing enough to create the next generation of construction workers.
09:46I think there's a lot going on to attract new young people into the industry, as a lot of our members are working on a variety of schemes, working with local colleges, setting up skills hubs to train people close to existing sites.
10:00So there's a lot going on in terms of getting the pipeline going.
10:04While the industry tries to ramp up construction for the future, today's young people are feeling the impacts of the housing crisis.
10:11Londoners, like the students and staff at the college, face average rents, which are 42% of average wages.
10:19There's the rent, there's council tax, there's your student debt, there's working tax.
10:24You have your water bills, your gas bills, your electricity bills, and there is just basic needs and necessities as well.
10:31So there is so much to cover that it's completely overwhelming.
10:34How do you feel about one day purchasing a property or getting onto the housing ladder?
10:38Currently, I'm trying to save up to, you know, try to get a mortgage and stuff.
10:44How's that going?
10:46It's pretty expensive with the cost of living in, especially in London, everything's really expensive.
10:51How likely is it and when are you going to get on the property ladder?
10:55Be honest, be totally frank with me, I think you're...
10:57I couldn't tell you, honestly, you need the money to do, and I don't have the money yet.
11:02In my lifetime, the discussion of the housing crisis has gone to a worry for the people over there,
11:09to pretty much everyone knowing someone that's struggling to pay their rent or can't get on the housing ladder.
11:16I think that's the biggest misunderstanding in this country of the housing crisis,
11:19that it's a crisis reserved for the poorest people in insecure jobs.
11:23It's not. There are professionals up and down the country that are struggling to pay their rent.
11:28You have people that are earning a living and they still can't afford a home.
11:31That tells us that our homes are completely unaffordable across the country.
11:36It's time to build one and a half million new homes across the country.
11:43Opportunities for first-time buyers in every community.
11:48The one and a half million homes target for England was at the centre of Labour's election manifesto.
11:55Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own ambitious housing targets.
12:00The then Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner was given the job of making it happen.
12:06I've got 1.5 million homes being spilling a lot.
12:09Until she had to resign because of her own personal housing crisis.
12:16And now, New Housing Secretary Steve Reid has enthusiastically picked up the baton
12:22and a big red hat with a slogan.
12:25Build, baby, build.
12:27Just build, baby, build.
12:29You've been making a big deal about build, baby, build, haven't you?
12:35Even wearing a hat which I have to say is a little bit reminiscent of Donald Trump.
12:39Well, it's important to signal to people that we have the determination to solve the housing crisis
12:45because people see it in their lives all around them today.
12:48And I think it's one of the drivers for younger people of a loss of confidence in our system
12:54because, you know, I was able to buy my first flat in my early 30s.
12:58Young people today cannot because the costs are out of reach for them.
13:03And that, at least in part, is because the supply of housing fell off a cliff.
13:08We are going to build, baby, build because that is the only way we tackle the housing crisis that we're facing in this country.
13:16Build, baby, build.
13:18Build, baby, build.
13:19It sounds straightforward.
13:20But on top of the rising costs of bricks and mortar and the shortage of workers,
13:24there's another major challenge for getting homes built.
13:28The planning system.
13:30Build, baby,aster.
13:35Hello, Anna.
13:37South Tyneside, on the North Sea Coast, is home to around 250,000 people.
13:42Hello, Anna.
13:44Hi, Anita.
13:45Nice to see you.
13:46You too.
13:47Anna Dixon is part of the housing team at the council.
13:51They're proud of these new homes on the side of the old docks.
13:55I think it's taken us a long time to get here
13:58but actually now we can see people
14:00kind of living their lives within these gorgeous homes
14:03I feel kind of there has been an accomplishment there
14:06But Anna and the team have got a lot more work to do
14:10They've struggled to build enough new homes
14:13The borough has missed its housing target
14:15set by the government every year for the past eight years
14:19At this moment in time we're not meeting our housing delivery test
14:23We've almost got a backlog of housing needs
14:26in terms of meeting our residence requirements
14:29Unfortunately we see a rise in homelessness
14:32We see a rise in people leaving the borough to live elsewhere
14:36which obviously has an impact on our ability to provide workers
14:41And it's not just housing
14:43They need to make sure the area has everything it needs
14:47We want to develop a community that has the right levels of schools and doctors
14:53All those other things
14:54Housing shouldn't just be a numbers game
14:56We're trying to develop communities here
14:59The council's already had to work out where three and a half thousand new homes
15:04could be built over the next 15 years
15:06This goes into what's known as a local plan
15:10It's the first stage of the planning system
15:13and it's a legal requirement for all councils to have a local plan in place
15:18This is our draft local plan
15:22As you can see this is the borough of South Tyneside
15:25in which we've identified suitable sites for development
15:29and that has looked at housing needs
15:31you know the communities, social needs, employment needs
15:36and trying to balance all of that within a very small geographical area is obviously a challenge
15:41Making the plan involves consultation
15:45A lot of consultation
15:47We've got the likes of Sports England
15:50You know some of these green areas are playing pitches
15:53We have Natural England
15:55You know we've got a beautiful coastline
15:57Certainly they would have something to say if we started building into this area as well
16:01But that's just the start
16:04Local planners may also be legally required to consult
16:08Neighbouring local authorities
16:10Homes England
16:11The Environment Agency
16:13Historic England
16:14Highways Authority
16:15Utility Providers
16:16National Health Service
16:17Police and Emergency Services
16:19Civil Aviation Authority
16:19Marine Management Organisation
16:21Office of Rail and Road
16:21County Councils
16:22Local Enterprise Partnerships
16:23Local Nature Partnerships
16:24Local Residents and Community Groups
16:26Parish and Town Councils
16:27Businesses
16:28Developers
16:29Landowners
16:30Voluntary Organisations
16:32And that's before they even think about
16:34Education Services
16:35Accessibility Advisors
16:37Wildlife Trusts
16:40And the documents go into hundreds of thousands of pages
16:45I'm looking at a lot of paperwork here
16:46Yes
16:47Is this all of it?
16:48No, this is a drop in in the ocean really
16:50But this just gives you a flavour
16:52What's this lovely looking pile here?
16:55This looks like a lot of reading for somebody
16:57Yes, and it was
17:00Part of the statutory process is obviously we must engage with the community
17:04This is what we've all received back in terms of representation and responses to that consultation
17:14Earlier this year the draft plan went in front of all the elected district councillors for approval
17:19It's flawed, it's wrong, it's undemocratic and nothing will change because your government will see to that
17:27After a three hour debate the plan was defeated, campaigners celebrated
17:32The Labour-run council voted for the second time to reject its own planning team's local plan
17:43This leaves the borough with a local plan that's not been updated for the last 17 years
17:49Now the government has stepped in and forced the plan to the next stage
17:54To be scrutinised by the planning inspectorate, an independent government agency
18:00If they approve it, it could go ahead despite the local opposition
18:05How far away are you from getting this signed off and being able to get on with it?
18:08If we get approval from the plan inspector, we're looking probably at the back end of 2026
18:15Right, if you get approval
18:17If we get approval
18:17What happens if you don't?
18:21Back to the drawing board probably
18:24Meanwhile, the government in its drive to build more homes has changed the targets
18:29The target in South Tyneside has doubled from 309 to 623 new homes a year
18:37As soon as this is adopted, then we'll have to start looking for sites for the future
18:42And that'll be a higher target that we'll have to meet
18:45So you've got even more houses?
18:46More houses, yes
18:48And are you getting help with that?
18:49Is the government providing you any help to make sure that they're met?
18:55Certainly there's new legislation in the offing, however that might take some time
19:01You know, we need houses now and we need to get some of these sites developed
19:06Anna, do you ever just want to throw your hands up and say, what's the point?
19:11You know, you come in with a smile on your face every day and hope that you're doing the best job you can
19:161.5 million houses by 2029, do you think it's doable?
19:19I think it's certainly challenging
19:22I think we are seeing investment
19:24It's not going to be without its challenges
19:26I'm not going to stand here and say 1.5 million is doable
19:30Because it is going to be very, very difficult
19:34It's not just South Tyneside
19:36Across England, fewer than a third of councils have an up-to-date local plan
19:42The government has now promised to get tough and force all councils to agree a local plan
19:51Paul Cheshire is an economist who's given advice to governments on planning policy for decades
19:56Surely the government can just say to local authorities, listen, you guys, you have to have a plan
20:00There's some kind of penalty if you don't have a plan, you know, we're going to penalise you
20:04Er, they do say that, but they don't penalise them, one
20:08And even if you did, you've got an underfunded planning system
20:11We've made that process hugely over complicated
20:14So it would take years for that to have any impact
20:18How on earth are you going to get 1.5 million houses built if local authorities don't even have a local plan in place?
20:24The previous government allowed this situation to, um, to develop
20:28Where you've got the majority of councils without a local plan
20:31Well, you've been in for 15 months now
20:33Well, and we've got the new legislation going through that will change the planning process
20:36So they're far more incentivised to put one in place
20:40And we will be ensuring that councils put them in place
20:44Back in South Tyneside, I want to find out what's behind the objections to the local plan
20:50Hello Diane! Nice to meet you! Nice to meet you!
20:54The most controversial part is the proposal to build 1,200 new homes in these fields
21:01Next door to an existing housing estate called Felgate
21:06What do I want? Safe agreement!
21:09The fields are in the Greenbelt and local residents have formed a campaign group to fight the plans
21:15They say the land is prone to flooding and local roads couldn't handle the increased traffic
21:21You're lucky to have this on your doorstep
21:23Absolutely! And it would be such a shame if it went
21:26Diane is part of the group which is also campaigning to protect wildlife habitats in and around the proposed site
21:33So this is Candy
21:35Aww, look at this! A little oasis!
21:39And that's Tyler at the back, so Candy's always at the front
21:43You've got a whole family
21:44And like it is, they haven't been named yet, but they will
21:46And if you hear them, that's them shouting for their dinner
21:48And how long have they been here?
21:50Erm, five years now
21:54Diane has lived in the area for much of her life and visits the ponds every day
21:59What does this area mean to the estate?
22:01It means everything, you know
22:03We're in the middle of a housing estate
22:05And right here, right now, you wouldn't know that
22:07You're out, the fresh air
22:08When the sun's shining, it's lovely
22:09When the snow's on the ground, it's really lovely
22:11You know, I've had lots of tragedy in my life, you know
22:14And I think most of us have
22:16But this is my go-to
22:18This is my feel-good thing
22:19This is what makes going to work every day
22:21And coming here just kind of breaks that all down
22:24The whole of the day, wherever stresses it may be, go
22:26The council's plan aims to deliver new homes on the nearby farmland
22:32And protect and improve wildlife habitats
22:36So how do you feel about the possibility of a housing estate?
22:39Absolutely mortified
22:40It would be an absolute tragedy
22:43There is a pond further over where they've already built houses
22:47And that pond is where originally Candy lived
22:49Now there was ducks on there
22:51There was, I mean, originally there was swans on there
22:53Because of the building, there's nothing there now
22:56You know, I mean, how can you look at them
22:58And just want them to just not be here
22:59You know, they've been here for years now
23:01Some people might think that the need of people
23:06And the need for housing is more important
23:10That's probably how some people feel
23:12But why can't you have a balance?
23:13You don't have to use green
23:15Oh no, your mate's turned up
23:15She's going to bite me
23:16She's going to bite me
23:18Does she bite?
23:19Yeah
23:19She's massive
23:20She does bite
23:22This is what she's after
23:26Candy loves me backpack
23:30Candy's enormous
23:31Candy's been very well fed
23:33Yeah
23:33Yeah, she has
23:35There you go
23:36Good girl
23:37Ah ah
23:38Coming for a close-up
23:39Candy
23:39No
23:41You did
23:41I know I'm a Countryfile presenter
23:43But
23:45You did
23:45I'm going to just take a step back and
23:48Watch Diane in
23:49In action
23:50Candy
23:51No
23:52No
23:54For now, Diane and the other residents
23:56Have to wait for the decision of the planning inspectorate
23:59But even that won't mean the end of the planning battle
24:05Even once the local plan's been voted through
24:08Each individual development then needs separate planning permission
24:12And that's a whole other ball game
24:20When it comes to getting planning permission
24:22The system in England is in crisis
24:26Only one in five council planning teams are fully staffed
24:30It now takes an average of two years to get a decision on an outline planning application
24:36For ten or more homes
24:38That's more than doubled since 2014
24:41And it is particularly difficult to get permission if you want to build on the greenbelt
24:52Ah, the greenbelt
24:56That great protector of the British countryside
25:00We've all heard of the greenbelt
25:05We all know you're not supposed to build on the greenbelt
25:09But what actually is the greenbelt?
25:13The first greenbelt was created in the 1930s
25:16When cities were rapidly expanding
25:19Threatening to sprawl out into the countryside
25:23Protective greenbelts surrounding many towns and cities
25:26Have now grown to cover 13% of England
25:30Where the bar is extremely high for getting any planning permission
25:39Professor Paul Cheshire is also the author of a major report on the greenbelt
25:44And he offered to show me round this nice spot of greenbelt land in Kent near Sevenoaks
25:50So I thought I'd make it a nice day out
25:53What do you think of the hire car?
25:54Very smart, very smart
25:57That's it
25:57But you still haven't opened the locket system
25:59Yeah, there you go
26:02We are in the glorious greenbelt
26:04Beautiful fields and trees and hedgerows
26:08This is very pretty, isn't it?
26:10Yes, yes, yes, yes
26:12But it turns out the greenbelt isn't always very green
26:19So we're still in the greenbelt
26:20But this is like light industrial commercial property, isn't it, round here
26:25Yes, I mean, of course, greenbelt is very varied land
26:29There's loads of the greenbelt that's got existing buildings on it
26:34Some of the greenbelt contains intensive farming, business parks and industrial estates
26:41The only purpose of the greenbelt was not that it was green or that it was even particularly attractive
26:46It was only to stop further development
26:50So the greenbelt doesn't form a useful social function in that sense
26:55And greenbelt land is often attractive for building homes because it's close to existing amenities and transport links
27:05Paul's study looked at the greenbelt surrounding five English cities
27:09He located hundreds of areas of greenbelt of limited ecological or social value within 800 meters of train stations for commuting
27:19Enough land, he claims, to build two million new homes and more than meet the government's target
27:26I would say that you need to identify those small bits of the greenbelt that really have very little value in terms of amenity or environment
27:34Which have good transport and then say you can build on these and there'll be a presumption that you can build on them
27:40Unless there is some absolutely overriding reason why you can't
27:45Sevenoaks needs more homes
27:48The average house price in the area is nearly half a million pounds
27:5213 times the local average wage
27:56The area doesn't have a local plan in place
28:00And the council's missed its new homes target for the last nine years
28:0693 percent of Sevenoaks is greenbelt land
28:10Paul's directed me towards a site that he thinks is ideal for housing
28:18So this place is interesting
28:21Paul's so large of visit here
28:31Justin, please meet you
28:32Hey Ben, hey this is pretty cool
28:35Yes, so welcome to the Broke Hill golf course
28:39Ben Gearing is a planner for a private developer
28:43So this is the former Broke Hill golf course just under 60 hectares so a large site
28:4760 hectares, that's quite big
28:49Yeah, big area so lots of opportunities to do lots of good things here
28:53So like build loads of houses
28:54Build loads of houses, country park, new primary school, retirement village a bit like the Thursday night murder club
29:00So yeah
29:00You make a good case Ben, you're selling it to me
29:03Well, come see the clubhouse, I'll show you some more
29:05So just through here
29:06Yes
29:08There are a dozen other golf courses within a six mile radius of here
29:13So the area isn't short of them
29:16This one has seen better days
29:17It closed in 2017
29:19This leads through to the clubhouse
29:23Oh, it's not
29:24I have to say, this isn't really what I was expecting
29:27I was expecting, you know, cocktails on the lawn
29:31The site is just over the road from a railway station in London's Commuter Belt
29:37Ben spent months assessing the site and writing a proposal for planning permission
29:42To build 800 homes, a school and other amenities
29:47We then went forward with a planning application
29:49Very difficult to get planning in the Greenbelt
29:51You have to have very special circumstances to release land for housing
29:54Even if there was a large housing need as there is in Sevenoaks
29:57Put the planning application in 2019
29:59That was refused in early 2021
30:02So you were not back?
30:03We were not back locally
30:04Because this is Greenbelt?
30:05Because it's Greenbelt, yes
30:06The local council's decision was supported by the independent planning inspectorate
30:17Now the government has changed the rules a bit
30:21It's come up with a new concept
30:23Greybelt
30:24Low quality Greenbelt land that can be considered for building homes
30:29So Ben's trying again
30:31Hoping the council will agree that this site qualifies as Greybelt
30:37We believe this site can meet the criteria of Greybelt in national policy
30:41And alongside that you have to meet something called golden rules
30:43Which are requiring 50% affordable housing
30:47Upgrades to local infrastructure
30:48So cycling, walking routes, things like that
30:50And also delivering high quality open space
30:52Which we deliver as part of the scheme
30:54Do you think Sevenoaks are going to say
30:55All right Ben, build your housing
30:57It's never that easy
30:58But if only it was
31:01But I think we have a far better policy framework and foundation to build on than we did previously
31:09Where it was far harder
31:10So Ben, will the government's changes work?
31:13The work the government are doing now on planning reform and the changes being made
31:17The impacts of that are over 5, 10, 15 years, not in the first year or two
31:21Big or controversial planning applications, including building on the Greenbelt
31:28Are often decided by local councillors on planning committees
31:32And the scepticism about how big an impact the new rules will have on their planning decisions
31:38It will still be a local decision to determine which areas are Greybelt
31:44If the Greybelt had been defined in a legally watertight way as identifying this type of land
31:54Everywhere that it was relevant
31:56Then it would have been cut and dried and you could have built a lot of houses
31:59But they didn't do that
32:00They left it to the fuzziness of the planning system
32:03And therefore to local lobbying and the process
32:06And it won't happen
32:08The government has announced Greybelt
32:10This won't resolve the issue of building on the Greenbelt
32:13Unless you impose the rules on local authorities
32:16Well, it will because what we've done is
32:18We've given local authorities house-building targets
32:21Which the Conservatives talked about but then took away
32:24But at the moment we've got the problem that local councils are in a position to be able to
32:29Vote against the new Greybelt rules and stop development happening
32:34Yes, I'm looking at how we can incentivise councils on that
32:39I'm also taking more powers to myself
32:42So where a council unreasonably rejects a scheme
32:46Under the changes that we're making to the planning rules
32:49I will be able to call them in and I will be able to reverse them
32:56Another challenge for the government is balancing the need for new homes
33:14With all the other things it's promised to do
33:17Like, for example, cleaning up polluted rivers and waterways
33:22Hello, lovely to see you
33:28Thank you for coming down
33:29The country is so beautiful
33:30Yeah, well, welcome to the Solent
33:32Shall we get on the boat?
33:33Yes, please
33:33Yes, please, yeah
33:34This stretch of water runs between the south coast and the Isle of Wight
33:44Debbie Tan runs the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust
33:50So we are on the New Forest Coast
33:53It's part of the Solent
33:54So it's a nature reserve
33:56Highly designated under European legislation
33:59And just really, really important for all sorts of wildlife
34:02We've got some black-tailed godwits
34:04We've got curlew, we've got red shank
34:06And actually in the winter we get hundreds and hundreds of these birds
34:09It's a real spectacle
34:10But this internationally important wildlife site has a serious problem
34:15It's clogged up with green algae
34:19So you can see that's the kind of green sort of scum that you can see
34:23Yeah, absolutely
34:23Or mat, you might call it, on top of the mud
34:25It chokes the mud, it covers up the mud, it stops the birds from feeding
34:28So you can see it kind of growing up the edge
34:31It kills off the natural vegetation
34:33And the roots of that salt marsh vegetation hold the mud in place
34:37So once that's gone, they start to erode
34:40And that's causing a real problem here
34:42So it's affecting the wildlife and the soil
34:45And then washing away the salt marshes as well
34:46So it's really, really changing the ecosystem
34:48Yeah, it is
34:49The growth in algae is caused by too many nutrients in the water
34:55These nutrients are chemicals containing nitrates and phosphates
34:59Many come from household sewage and fertilisers used on fields
35:04They wash into rivers and out into the sea
35:07So it is naturally occurring, but it's growing much, much faster
35:12Because of over-fertilisation from too many nutrients
35:15What's all this got to do with house building?
35:19New homes mean more sewage, which can mean more nutrients in the water
35:24Since 2019, there have been rules which mean housing development in affected areas
35:30Need to take account of this
35:32Before they can get planning permission, they need to prove they won't be adding to the nutrient problem
35:38It's called nutrient neutrality
35:41Developers blame it for blocking house building in areas across England
35:45And it appears to have made an impact
35:50In the three years following these new rules
35:53Southampton missed its housing delivery target by 50%
35:57And in nearby Portsmouth, by 74%
36:01Developers were frustrated
36:02Planning authorities were frustrated
36:04You know, MPs got involved
36:06And so we looked at this and thought, you know, actually it's quite important
36:10That we help Natural England to find a solution
36:13Because what happens is nature's then called out as a problem
36:17Nature is not a blocker to development
36:20The solution here was for house builders to pay to fund an environmental project
36:26Aimed at reducing pollution
36:29Hey John, how are you doing?
36:31Hi Justin, how are you?
36:32This is a nice looking bit of land
36:33It's very interesting, isn't it?
36:34It's fantastic, yeah
36:35The Wildlife Trust bought intensively farmed land on the other side of the Solent
36:42On the Isle of Wight
36:43When we first got the site in 2022
36:46We did some measures of phosphate in the ditches
36:50And the level was literally off the scale
36:52And all of that, of course, is being washed straight down the ditches and into the Solent
36:55By stopping the use of fertilisers and turning this land back to nature
37:00The Trust is helping reduce pollution in the Solent
37:04We monitor the phosphate levels in ditches now and the nitrate levels
37:07And they're down at 45%, you know, so we're already seeing big reductions
37:12The schemes created the potential for nearly 4,000 new homes
37:22These houses near Southampton are some of the homes that have already been built
37:27But it all comes at a price
37:29The house builders have to pay for it
37:32Adding between £2,000 and £3,500 to the cost of building each house
37:38And in areas where there aren't enough schemes like this
37:42Some house building is still being held up
37:45Nutra neutrality has been a massive issue for the industry for seven years now
37:51It's hugely frustrating
37:52The frustration for the industry is that we are less than 1% per year from new homes
37:57In terms of the nitrates and the phosphates that are going into rivers
38:00We want to play our part
38:02But what's been unfair in this is that by a long way
38:05The greater contributor is agriculture and farming
38:08And the smaller builders are having to pay substantial amounts of money
38:11To get their sites through planning
38:14Sometimes that's the cost that those sites can't bear
38:18The government says it will unblock the nutrient neutrality bottleneck
38:25And it thinks conservation schemes like the one on the Isle of Wight
38:29Can help tackle wider environmental concerns and get more homes built
38:34Under proposed new planning laws
38:39Developers could pay into a national nature restoration fund
38:43To compensate for any environmental damage
38:46But there are fears this will weaken protection for nature
38:50When people hear you say build baby build
38:54Understandably they'll think well he's going to bulldoze through environmental regulations
38:59I'm going to bulldoze through the barriers that are stopping me people in this country
39:05Reaching their aspiration to own their own home
39:08But is that going to come at the price of the environment?
39:11It's not going to come at the price of the environment
39:13Where we see development which inevitably is going to
39:16Directly in the area where you're putting concrete in the ground
39:18Is going to damage nature
39:20We will more than compensate for that elsewhere by restoring nature
39:24But that comes at a cost
39:25We went down to the Isle of Wight
39:26About £3,000 for homes as a result of those compensation measures
39:31Well it depends in the way that you're
39:33So an extra £3,000
39:33You're pushing prices up not reducing them
39:35We're looking at the specifics of how it works in localities
39:40So that we can start to lower some of the costs
39:43The house building industry in the UK is dominated by a small number of big developers
39:53In recent decades they've done well out of rising house prices
39:58Between 2007 and 2021 profits went up tenfold
40:03To £2.8 billion a year
40:06They've since fallen significantly
40:08The big house building companies build 40% of the new homes in the UK
40:14So if the government is going to meet its ambitious target
40:17They are going to have to be a big part of it
40:21And biggest of the lot is Vistry
40:25It currently builds more homes in the UK than anyone else
40:29More than 17,000 a year
40:31And it's so big it started building houses not on a building site
40:36But in huge factories like this one in Leicestershire
40:39This is a wood that is used within our timber frame structure
40:43To make our walls, floors and roofs
40:46The basic skeletons of the houses are built here
40:50The frames for the roofs, floors and walls
40:53And then shipped off to the building site
40:55So what you're doing is you're kind of
40:58It's like a house kit isn't it?
41:00Like an air fix model for housing
41:02It's quite a big place to get around
41:05This place is huge
41:06So we've reached the end of the line
41:12We've reached the end of the line for now
41:14This is a kit of parts
41:15So the whole kind of timber frame structure
41:18It's loaded onto the lorries and then transported to our site
41:21Vistry hopes these time-saving processes
41:26Will help it ramp up the number of homes it builds
41:29A normal building site might turn out 50 homes in one calendar year
41:34We've got schemes across the country
41:36That are building 200 homes plus in a calendar year
41:39And in the future we think we can grow to over 20,000 a year
41:42In our medium-term plan
41:44And we think that's a good contribution to the national requirement needed each year
41:4820,000 a year, five years, 100,000
41:52Phil, 1.4 million houses somebody else has to build
41:56Only 11 big house builders
41:57Can it really be done?
41:59To us it's an ambitious target
42:01But something that we want to help deliver and help work towards
42:03And something that the industry is very keen on delivering
42:06But critics believe the government's reliance on private house builders
42:12Could spell trouble for their chances of meeting the target
42:15Private companies will only build when they think they can sell and make a profit
42:21With construction costs high, in many areas making a profit is a challenge
42:26And relatively high mortgage rates are reducing the number of potential buyers
42:31So the fear is, the companies won't deliver
42:34A lot of the current government's policies are premised around
42:39Private house builders delivering new homes
42:43Now, why would we do that when we're in a complete crisis
42:47And history tells us that private developers don't deliver
42:50Unfortunately, consecutive governments of all colours
42:54Have instead of siding with the people that need homes
42:58Sided with private developers because they've normalised a profit-driven development model
43:03You've got to say that ultimately it's profit-driven companies
43:07That can't see the interest in building the homes
43:10That are responsible for the deficit we've got in the housing market
43:12No, that's not true
43:13I think actually, like most private organisations
43:17They're driven by growth, actually
43:19And building more homes
43:20If you look over those years
43:21You'll see that they've always set targets for building more homes
43:25And that would make them more successful
43:27They're driven by growth if they think there's profit in it
43:29If they don't think there's profit in it
43:30They're not going to try and expand their operations, are they?
43:33And the problem is, they've been too focused on profits
43:35No, I think actually
43:36The truth is, this is an industry
43:38That will build the homes if there are buyers there
43:40But even if the home builders hit the government's target
43:44Will it bring down the cost of housing?
43:48Will building 1.5 million new homes actually reduce house prices?
43:55Well, I mean, there are a number of factors at play here
43:58Increasing supply should mean that, you know, buying a new home becomes more affordable
44:05But we're also seeing at the moment, for the first time in a decade
44:08Wages rising faster than prices
44:12So that's putting more money in people's pockets
44:14So should house prices fall?
44:16Well, I want it to become more affordable to people to buy a new home
44:20People will hear that and think Steve Reid is saying he wants to see house prices fall
44:24No, no, no, I know where you're trying to get me to go
44:26People's home is one of the biggest investments they make in their life
44:30And we don't want to see the value of that investment falling
44:33I want to see new homes being built
44:35And I want people to be able to afford to move into them
44:37So you want affordable homes, but you don't want to reduce prices?
44:40I want more affordable homes, that's why we're going to build more homes
44:42We don't have enough
44:43And that is one of the reasons that house ownership has become a nightmare for people rather than a dream
44:49If you were to build 1.5 million houses, it would have some fractional effect on house prices
44:56Fractional?
44:57Very small, because it would also depend critically on where they were built
45:00If they were built where housing demand was strongest relative to supply
45:05I.e. in London and the South East, that would have a much bigger impact on average house prices
45:10Than if you put them all into a small, ex-industrial town
45:13At Vistry, they've taken the decision to move heavily into what's called affordable and social housing
45:21Working with housing associations and local councils
45:24Affordable homes are sold or rented for 20% less than the market rate
45:30Social housing is around 50%
45:33The build is often subsidised by government funding
45:36And there's always demand
45:37Meaning for a developer, it can be a more predictable and stable business
45:42Than the private market alone
45:43So we are a partnerships developer
45:47We deliver a hell of a lot of affordable homes
45:49We deliver around 35% of our homes for private
45:52And 65% as affordable and private rent
45:55And that is very important to us
45:57Vistry projects have received more than a quarter of a billion pounds
46:02In government funding since 2021
46:05But realistically, you can only build houses if you can sell them for a profit
46:09I mean, in terms of financial sustainability
46:12You kind of have to make a profit in order to do that
46:15Of course, all of us who are operating in this space have to make money
46:18But there is more to this than just that as an outcome
46:21You know, we feel there is a social requirement for us to be part of the solution
46:26And, you know, the fact that we're very focused on affordable
46:29It is really important to us to ensure we help solve the problem
46:38The main type of social housing used to be council homes
46:42Directly paid for and owned by local councils
46:46Rents were controlled
46:48Tenancies often for life
46:50For 30 years after the war
46:52Councils built more than 100,000 homes a year
46:55At their peak in the late 70s
46:58Nearly a third of all homes in England were council homes
47:01But then everything changed
47:04We were elected to extend home ownership
47:07And we gave council tenants the right to buy their own homes
47:12Nearly three quarters of a million more council tenants have either bought or are buying their homes
47:18The right to buy scheme meant that long-term tenants could buy their properties at a discounted price
47:25It's been hugely popular and given millions of less well-off families the opportunity to own their own home
47:32Since right to buy was introduced, two million social homes have been sold this way in England
47:40Only half have been replaced
47:43Over 4 in 10 homes that were sold under the right to buy are now owned and rented out for a profit by private landlords
47:51So we've literally taken a public asset that was good for our country
47:56And we've given it over to the private sector to allow landlords to make a profit
48:00Off the fact that people need somewhere to live
48:03I've come to Stroud in Gloucestershire where housing is a hot topic
48:17It's near the M5 and on a main railway line
48:21Commuters can get to Bristol, even London
48:25So house prices in this area have gone up so much
48:29That now the average house price here is 10 times the average local wage
48:34And that's priced many local people out of the market
48:37The parish of Eastington, just outside Stroud and bang on the motorway, is feeling the impact
48:44They've not been short of proposals for new houses
48:47But they're often not what local people want
48:50Tom Lowe is one of a group of residents who saw the problems this was causing
48:56What are developers wanting to build here?
49:00They tend to build three, four, five bedroom houses
49:03One bed, very, very seldom
49:05So people here who are not earning very much can't buy the houses
49:10And indeed, if the houses are built and they're for private rent, they can't afford that either
49:16Over the years, the amount of affordable housing in the village has fallen
49:21The right to buy happened in 1980
49:24So you're looking at something like 175 houses in this sweep here
49:30All of which were built either as council houses or as housing issues
49:34Affordable, all affordable
49:36And less than half now
49:40It's meant that many local people have had to leave the area
49:44If you think about extended families, we've got people here who are 80 years old and went to the local school
49:52Their children were born here and went to the local school
49:55Now their grandchildren have difficulty living here
49:59Instead of just trying to block the property developers
50:03Tom and other local residents decided to do something about it
50:07They set up what's known as a community land trust
50:11They got grants and raised money to buy this plot of land on the edge of the village from a local farmer
50:18And teamed up with a housing association to build 23 affordable rent homes
50:24What sort of properties have we got?
50:27Well we've just got a couple of bungalows at the front
50:29And these are for people to downsize into
50:31And when they move out to the council houses or the housing association, three bed housing
50:36They move in there
50:38And we've got a three bed house elsewhere in the village or elsewhere in Stroud
50:42That's freed up for somebody else
50:43So you've got bungalows, one bed, two beds, apartments
50:47These are all two bed this size
50:48The bungalows are all one bed
50:50At the very end we've got four flats
50:53People can only apply to live here if they have a connection to the village
50:58Hello Sally, nice to see you
51:01Come on then
51:02Sally moved in nearly five years ago
51:05I grew up in the village, went to the local school
51:07I moved away because there's nowhere to rent in the village really
51:12Sally says she's had some bad experiences with landlords over the years
51:18I bought a newborn prem baby back to black mold
51:21And when I complained
51:22They just wouldn't do anything about it and put the rent up
51:25And when I complained about the rent going up
51:27They said if I didn't I'd be evicted
51:28So that was it
51:30I just had to keep paying
51:31And keep bleaching the walls basically
51:34So how important is it that you are here?
51:37Oh very
51:37Because my dad's very poorly at the moment
51:39So my son spends a lot of time with him
51:42Which I want
51:42And it makes me going to work easier
51:45That I can just five minutes down the road
51:48I can even walk to my mum's house
51:50To drop my son or my dog off before I go to work
51:53Just to have a decent garden
51:54And somewhere for my son to play at the front
51:57And not have to worry that someone might sell the house
51:59And have to find somewhere else
52:01This is like our forever home really
52:04The project's success means the Community Land Trust
52:08Is working with another housing association
52:11To build 31 more social and affordable homes in Eastington
52:15The government says it wants to build more social and affordable homes
52:20It's announced £39 billion of funding over 10 years
52:24Which it says could help deliver 300,000 homes
52:28Is it enough?
52:30No
52:30That figure actually equates to about £3 billion year on year up to 2029
52:35Now in the last affordable homes programme 2021 to 2026
52:40The figure was about £2.3 billion
52:42So it's hardly, if you count inflation
52:44It's hardly an increase on what the Conservatives were spending
52:46Across England there are more than 1.3 million households on social housing waiting lists
52:54Some charities and researchers and MPs on the Housing Select Committee
52:58Think the government should invest to help build 90,000 social homes a year
53:03That could cost tens of billions of pounds of taxpayers' money
53:09All of this costs money and money is tight
53:13So what's your economic argument for spending more money on social housing?
53:18As it stands, between 2024 and 2029
53:21The government will have subsidised private landlords to the tune of £70 billion
53:25Via housing benefit because private rents are unaffordable
53:29That blows my mind every time I think about it
53:32If you spend money on social housing, it actually creates money for the economy
53:36We would see a decrease in spending on temporary accommodation
53:39Some councils have seen increases of over 230% more
53:44In many cases on their temporary accommodation
53:46Charities, researchers and the Housing Select Committee have said we need £90,000 a year
53:52We have to take choices, make choices based on the funding that is available
53:56I think it's a pretty good start to have the biggest amount of money
53:59To provide the biggest increase in social and affordable housing in a generation
54:06This is a major step forward in starting to tackle the crisis of homelessness and unaffordability in our country
54:13We've travelled across England speaking to people involved throughout the housebuilding process
54:25Most people agree that the £1.5 million target is a tall order
54:30And so far, the figures don't look great
54:34Planning permissions granted for new housing developments have continued to decline since the government came to power
54:40And are at a record low
54:42So, will the government make it?
54:46There's absolutely no way that we will build 1.5 million houses
54:50No way?
54:51No way
54:52I would say that with real confidence
54:54With the best that will in the world
54:56But with the reforms it's got, it's not going to make much difference at all
55:00And one of the problems with the housing system is
55:02It's a very slow, it's like turning a tanker around
55:06It's going to take a long time to improve the situation
55:09We're not going to meet it because the government have not changed tack
55:15They have continued on the path of a developer-led model of housing in this country
55:21For as long as it's driven by profit, we are going to have problems
55:24Because profit will always be chosen over the needs of people
55:31The truth is at the moment we're flatlining at around about 200,000 homes a year
55:35I think the 1.5 million target is looking increasingly distant, I've got to say that
55:40The chief executive of the Home Builders Federation says, and I quote
55:46It is looking increasingly distant
55:48Let's be honest, you are not going to meet it, are you?
55:51I'm absolutely going to meet that 1.5 million target
55:54And it will make the celebration all the sweeter
55:57If people are telling me that I can't do it
56:00Of course we can do it
56:01We can do anything in this country that we want to do
56:04If you fail to meet your 1.5 million target, Steve
56:07Will you eat your Build Baby Build hat?
56:10Will you?
56:11Well, happily at the moment, I'm dieting
56:13Maybe the diet will be over by that point
56:14But I do believe this very, very strongly
56:17That target was given to me by the Prime Minister when I accepted this job
56:21And I accepted it
56:22And my job, just like yours or anyone watching this show
56:25My job should be on the line if I fail to meet my target
56:28So I expect to be held to account for it
56:30The government says it is going to build Baby Build
56:34But hitting that 1.5 million target is going to be a huge task
56:39And even if it pulls it off, it's unlikely to make housing significantly cheaper
56:44So what's clear is it will take years to fix this country's housing crisis
56:51Thank you
56:52Thank you
56:53Thank you
56:54Thank you
56:55Transcription by CastingWords
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