Open letter to Prime Minister Burnham – You have a lot to deliver…

Dear Prime Minister, 

You have promised much and there are very, very high expectations of you. I note your first speech outside No 10 conveyed your aspiration to end rough sleeping. A most laudable cause, but a very complicated one where you will have to pull together a number of Government departments. Building more homes is key to this but also addressing the reasons for homelessness and rough sleeping will be key. 

Reappointing Angela Rayner is a very good move – when your predecessor formed his administration, his independently elected Deputy, (Angie) was asked what job she wanted and she picked this job. She has real passion for it and I imagine she will be redoubling her efforts. Your Party stood on a manifesto commitment of delivering 1.5million homes (I know you didn’t stand for Parliament then, but you are now in charge of delivering that manifesto). 

The reality is that between July 2024 and November 2025 only 275,600 new homes were built. That is well short of your self-imposed target that needs to be around 300k per year. We understand that you had inherited a broken system from the previous Government and are not unsympathetic but the reality is that you will have to dramatically increase the numbers to around 400k per annum to meet your targets. 

To do this, you will also have to very seriously consider what you do to help first-time buyers… they are the ones that will spark the house sales that we will need because no-one will build 400k homes a year if we can’t sell them. 

I also think it is very wise to have kept Matthew Pennycook as your Housing Minister. He has proved himself to be very tough on Councils that don’t do their job. The record nine Councils placed in special measures and the Councils like Three Rivers who are now having a Local Plan made for them is a good thing. 

I trust the new NPPF that you and Angela are reviewing (and we are expecting in the late summer) will make things easier for us. I trust you will keep Grey Belt as a policy and indeed, beef it up and clarify it further so that it starts to function properly rather than playing “planning roulette” with Planning Committees that choose not to understand it. 

I must also commend your commitment to taking Devolution into Number 10 to drive it forward. We desperately need strategic planning across regions again. I know this was a policy when you were in Government before and it would be a very good thing if you saw it through. 

Finally, the Planning and Infrastructure Act… When are we finding out what training and qualifications Planning Committees will need to get? If you are stuck, drop me a line, I’ll happily draw up the training programme and exam! 

Best wishes,

Henry 

07736121014