The Labour Party said this week that it is considering plans to enforce “compulsory purchase orders” on undeveloped land in a bid to cut the public cost of building new council homes.
The Conservative housing secretary, Sajid Javid, has suggested something that sounded similar in a newspaper interview, saying such measures could speed up private housing construction projects.
The proposals come amid widespread claims that speculators are “land banking” for profit and blocking the delivery of badly-needed new homes.
