Michael Gove can’t solve the housing crisis by ignoring the suburbs

Michael Gove, one of the few ministers with a track record of getting stuff done, set out the government’s new housebuilding plans this morning. But will his policies actually help solve the housing crisis? 

Gove’s plans have focused on streamlining the planning system in certain areas. The levelling up secretary is planning to create a dozen more Development Corporations, which take planning decisions away from local politicians and have speeded up building in areas such as Canary Wharf and the London Olympic games site. Gove is also opening the Office for Place, a department for making buildings beautiful, and creating a planning ‘super squad’ to plough through bottlenecks in major developments. All of this shows his zeal for delivery and his preference for government mandate over local decision-making.  

The plans have been shrewdly designed. He has promised that a million more homes will be built, with a focus on developing brownfield sites at the core of urban areas.