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Farmers could be forced to sell fields for less than their potential value under measures included in the government’s Planning and Infrastructure Bill, a move which risks deepening the rift between the government and rural communities.
The legislation would give councils greater powers to acquire land through compulsory purchase orders, allowing them to pay only the current value of land, rather than what it could be worth if it was developed – as is the case in the current system.
This could result in farmers and other landowners being forced to sell off their land at a much lower value than they would expect under current rules, if the land is identified as being necessary for new homes, hospitals or schools.
It comes amid growing anger from farming communities after the government extended inheritance tax to cover agricultural properties at last year’s budget, with thousands of farmers warning they will have to sell off family owned farms to afford the tax.
Tim Bonner, of the Countryside Alliance, warned that the latest proposals are “a step too far” in light of the mounting challenge on farmers posed by inheritance tax changes.
“We have been supportive of many of the government’s changes to planning policy, but giving councils more power to reduce the value of land is a step too far, especially in the context of such a challenging outlook for farmers and the inheritance tax fiasco”, he told The Telegraph.
“This is not about people blocking development, it’s about the state paying the market price for land. We need more houses and more economic development, but not at the cost of basic principles.”
Vice president of the National Farmers’ Union Rachel Hallos added: “This Bill comes at a time when the UK farming industry is under immense financial pressure due to the loss of direct payments, extreme weather and the impacts of the family farm tax. So, farmers and landowners must be fully consulted every step of the way.
“The housing minister told media today that these new powers would be used to access brownfield and urban land, and that must be the case. Anything else further undermines the government’s policy that food security is national security.”
It came after housing minister Matthew Pennycook told BBC Radio 4 that he expects the new powers to be used by local authorities for “regeneration projects on previously developed brownfield land in urban centres”.
“I think that’s where the real potential lies”, he said. “But in general terms, to get the houses and the infrastructure we need built, we do need to more easily unlock appropriate land.”
The government has been accused of betraying farmers after Rachel Reeves’ controversial changes to inheritance tax which have led to a revolt in countryside communities.
Under the changes, farms valued at £1m or more will be subject to 20 per cent inheritance tax. The Treasury claims that with tax allowances taken into consideration, only farms worth £3m will be affected, amounting to just 28 per cent of family farms.
But figures from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs appear to suggest that as many as 66 per cent could be hit.
The government’s Planning and Infrastructure Bill will include wide-ranging reforms, including streamlining the planning process, changing the way developers meet environmental obligations, and giving communities near new electricity pylons money off their energy bills.
Along with recent changes to national planning policy, Labour hopes the legislation will help deliver on its promise to build 1.5 million homes and make decisions on 150 major infrastructure projects by the next election.
Deputy prime minister and housing secretary Angela Rayner said the government would create “the biggest building boom in a generation” by “lifting the bureaucratic burden which has been holding back developments for too long”.
Other changes include a new nature restoration fund, allowing developers to pay into larger environmental projects instead of funding their own site-by-site initiatives, which the Government hopes will avoid a repeat of the £100 million “bat tunnel” HS2 was required to build.
The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government has been contacted for comment.
