17 October 2025: Labour’s multi-billion-pound developer give away is a betrayal of local communities
Dear Editor,
The leaked memo to Housing Secretary Steve Reed confirms our worst fears: this new Labour government is abandoning its promises on affordable housing before it has even found its footing. This is a clear slap in the face to people who are crying out for homes that they can actually afford to live in.
The plan to shower large property developers with public subsidies is an astonishing misuse of taxpayer money. At a time when public services are on their knees, the government proposes to use scarce public funds to boost the profits of private companies that are already highly successful. We already see this in Liverpool where the Labour Council allows private developers to avoid paying much needed section 106 money because they argue their schemes become ‘unviable’. I don’t think the average Brit has much sympathy for a developer making £1million instead of £3million in profit, while they struggle to put food on their table.
The proposal to suspend the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) is equally short-sighted and damaging. CIL is a crucial tool for ensuring that development benefits everyone, not just the developers. It pays for the essential infrastructure; the new schools, GP surgeries, and transport links. New developments only work if they are also planned out with infrastructure in mind. This change will mean worse roads, fewer school places and more pressure on GP surgeries.
To abolish the CIL it is to force local taxpayers to foot the bill for the strain caused by new development, all while private profits are protected. It is an act of fiscal ill-discipline that will cripple community budgets for years to come.
Most tellingly, the complete exclusion of local authorities and social housing providers from these discussions reveals Labour’s true, centralising colours. They are taking local expertise for granted. Councils are the engines of affordable housebuilding and understand local need better than any Whitehall mandarin or corporate developer. To sideline us so completely shows a government that trusts big business more than it trusts local communities.
This is a policy born of the same old Westminster thinking: top-down, developer-led, and fundamentally unfair. The Liberal Democrats have long argued that the solution to the housing crisis lies in empowering local authorities to build the social and affordable homes their communities need. This plan does the opposite. It is a profound betrayal, and local communities will not forget it.
Yours sincerely,
Cllr Carl Cashman
Leader, Liverpool Liberal Democrats.
Vice Chair, LGA Inclusive Growth Committee
Cllr Mike Ross
Leader, Hull City Council
Cllr Jim Millard
Deputy Leader, Richmond upon Thames Council