PLANNING rules are set to be loosened by Labour as part of a drive to build 300,000 new homes a year.

Ministers set out plans today to meet the government’s “milestone” commitment of 1.5 million new homes over the course of this parliament.

Building on greenbelt land will be made easier and local authorities will be held to building commitments in their areas, according to the proposals.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said that tackling the housing crisis must override other considerations.

He said: “For years, we have had not enough houses being built. We are determined to break through that.

“Of course we want to get the balance right with nature and the environment, but if it comes to a human being wanting to have a house for them and their family, that has to be the top priority.”

Councils are to be given new mandatory targets for housebuilding and will have to review green belt boundaries to identify so-called “grey belt” land which could be built on. 

If councils fail to plan to meet targets, central government will step in. 

New rules include prioritising social and affordable homes, although experts believe this will be impossible without billions of pounds of government funding. 

Commons housing committee chair, Labour MP Flo Eshamoli, told MPs: “We need more social housing to get people off our waiting lists. Our councils are at breaking point.”

Tory spokesman Kevin Hollinrake claimed “the majority of the homes that the government deliver will be required for people coming into this country rather than for British citizens.”

Research from charity Shelter showed that homelessness in England had risen 14 per cent thanks in part to a lack of social housing, with about 360,000 people now living in temporary accommodation.