Keir Starmer has admitted to being a loud and proud YIMBY — and has vowed to tackle the UK’s housing crisis if elected.
The Labour leader has vowed to put an end to the current “restrictive” planning rules and will put in laws that will allow central Government to over-ride local councils who turn down planning applications for more housing in their areas.
Sir Starmer said there needs to be drastic work to tackle the issues currently facing the UK with home shortages and has pledged to build 1.5 million homes if Labour win at the polls at the next general election.
No date has been set for the election, but the next one must be held by 2025.
In an interview with the BBC, he said: “Obviously, we want to work with local communities (but) we need to ensure planning goes up a level, so it is not localised.
“Yes (I’m a YIMBY).
““I think it is very important that we build the homes we need for the future.”
The Labour leader said that while he appreciates MPs must listen to their constituents, he feels that at times, some planning applications that have been turned down because of local objection should actually have been given the green light.
He continued: “The role of government is obviously different. The role of government is to deliver on big projects.”
But what exactly is the meaning of a YIMBY?
A YIMBY is a person who supports new development in the area where they live, typically in order to increase the availability of housing.
YIMBY stands for “Yes in my back yard” — as opposed to NIMBY, which stands for “not in my back yard” and references people who do not want their neighbourhood changed with housing developments.
It is is a pro-housing movement that supports increasing the supply of housing within cities where housing costs have escalated to unaffordable levels and aims to provide “better housing” for everyone — whether that be in the form of council homes or private housing.
During his speech to the Labour conference on Tuesday, Sir Keir vowed to build a “better Britain” and wanted to start a “decade of national renewal” after 13 years of Tory-led government.
He said he had plans to use state-backed companies to build a wave of new towns near English cities, echoing those built by Labour after World War Two, and would be encouraging Georgian-style townhouse blocks.
