May and Hammond locked in Green Belt stand off

Theresa May and Philip hammond were locked in a stand-off over housing last night after the Prime Minister publicly vetoed the idea of more building on the Green Belt.

Mrs May told MPs yesterday that she was ‘very clear’ about the need to protect Green Belt land.

But last night the Chancellor warned there was no ‘silver bullet’ to fix the housing crisis, and signalled there was a limit to what he was willing to do in next week’s Budget to tackle the ‘very complex challenge’.

The stand-off will cast doubt over how far the Government will go in dealing with the crisis.

It came as Communities secretary sajid Javid, who is pushing for £50 billion for housebuilding in the Budget, yesterday warned the Government risked creating a ‘rootless generation’ unless it built thousands more homes.

Mr hammond, who is reluctant to release billions for new housebuilding when the public finances are still in a poor state, has been pushing Mrs May to agree to the relaxation of plan- ning rules to allow more building on the Green Belt. Treasury officials argue the move would make it easier to provide new housing and believe the financial windfall created by redesignating land could help pay for it.

But Mrs May yesterday vetoed the idea following Tory warnings it would cause a public backlash in key seats. she told MPs she was ‘very clear’ about the need to protect the Green Belt. ‘We do want to see more homes being built in this country,’ she said.

‘But there are many opportunities to do that which don’t affect the Green Belt.’

Last night Mr hammond said: ‘There is no silver bullet, there isn’t a single thing that solves the challenge of affordability in the housing market. We are a crowded island and this is a very complex challenge.’

Mrs May will today will pledge to take ‘personal charge’ of tackling the housing crisis.

During a visit to a development in London she will say she has ‘made it my mission to build the homes the country needs and take personal charge of the Government’s response’.

‘We are a crowded island’