Labour is reportedly planning a major overhaul of compulsory purchase rules in a bid to cut homebuilding costs if the party wins the next general election. 

Shadow levelling up secretary Lisa Nandy is drawing up plans to force landowners to sell plots of land for under the market value, according to a Labour aide quoted in the Financial Times. 

The reported proposals would change how land is valued when it is acquired by local authorities via compulsory purchase orders (CPOs).

These intended reforms go beyond the Conservative government’s recent decision to make it possible for landowners to sell their land more cheaply “in certain cases involving affordable housing, health or education.”