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Liberal Democrats pledge 'use it or lose it' powers in bid to boost housebuilding

The Liberal Democrats would give councils “use it or lose it” powers against landbanking developers in an effort to scale up housebuilding to 300,000 homes a year.

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The party’s housing manifesto commitments include giving councils the power to penalise developers if they have failed to start building on a site after three years despite having planning permission.

Councils would also be able to levy 200% council tax on empty homes, including those that are bought by foreign investors and are left empty.

Housing associations would be given increased borrowing capacity through increased access to finance.

If in government, the party would directly build homes in an effort to meet its target to deliver 300,000 homes a year to buy and rent by the end of the next parliament, with 100,000 of these affordable and energy efficient homes.

The party would also set up a housing and infrastructure development bank to provide long-term capital for new housing.

Smaller housing developments would no longer be exempt from providing affordable housing under the party’s plans and the borrowing cap on councils would be lifted to allow them to build more social rented homes.

The plan to penalise developers that sit on land without building and to increase council tax for empty homes were both in Labour’s 2015 manifesto, while the Conservative government introduced direct commissioning last year.

Tim Farron, leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: “If developers won’t deliver the homes Britain needs, we will. The government will become a house builder itself, bringing in the contractors to actually construct the homes and then selling them into the market. The only way to get a grip on the housing crisis is by firm government action. The market is broken and has failed to deliver.

He added: “If we have to penalise developers for landbanking and let local authorities hike up council tax on empty or unbuilt homes, so be it. We will set up a housing and infrastructure development bank to provide long-term capital for new settlements.”

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