UK Housebuilders Counter Miliband's Land-Hoarding Claim

Britain's housebuilders have launched a scathing counter attack against Ed Miliband's claim that they are hoarding land for profit. The industry said plots are built on as soon as planning permission is secured, and argued that the 557% increase in profits among the nation's four biggest housebuilders this year comes from a very low base following the financial crisis. The biggest four developers by turnover – Barratt, Berkeley, Persimmon and Taylor Wimpey – have a collective land holding of almost 300,000 plots. A spokesman for the Home Builders' Federation (HBF), the industry's trade body, said: "Developers don't land bank, all the evidence is there. As soon as developers get a planning permission they want to start on site. Developers are not land hoarders." One major housebuilder said companies in the sector would be perceived as hugely risky and lose investment if they did not have sufficiently long land bank holdings of typically more than four years. Read more on the Guardian website.

Miliband Promises Drive to Double Rate of Housebuilding

Profiteering property developers that hoard land and councils that block developments will be swept aside in a "non-stop drive" to more than double the number of homes being built each year in England, Ed Miliband has promised. Attacking "stick-in-the-mud councils", the Labour leader said he would order a national planning inspectorate to give priority to local authorities that want to expand if they are being blocked by neighbouring councils refusing to release land. Under the Labour plans, councils would be empowered to compulsorily purchase land or charge fees if developers fail to build on land for which they have planning permission. Read more on the Guardian website.

Labour Vows to Take On Land Hoarders

A Labour Government will target the shadowy world of land hoarders, often hedge funds and investors who have no intention of building homes but instead use the acreage as an asset. "Either use the land or lose the land," warns Ed Miliband.  This is a particularly big issue in London. Roger Harding, head of policy at Shelter, said: "The Greater London Authority estimated 50% of the land with planning permission was owned by someone other than developers. You have hedge funds and banks here". Moving against land hoarders would be controversial – columnist Mary Ann Sieghart tweeted the policy had "shades of Mugabe". But Labour say the numbers are too big to ignore. Sources in Miliband's office say strategic land bought with options, which accounts for 83% of land banks, could if freed "provide enough space for 1.4m homes". Read more on the Guardian website.