Farmers will be forced to sell fields ‘for less than their potential value’ under Rayner’s land grab_nhy
Farmers already left outraged by Labour’s inheritance tax grab will be forced to sell their land for less than its potential value.
Fields targeted by councils to build new hospitals, schools, and homes would be snapped up through compulsory purchase orders (CPO) under new measures in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill.
But the greater powers handed to local authorities would mean they could buy the land at its current price rather than the value of what it would be if it were to be developed, The Telegraph reported.
The move will be a further blow to the already incensed farmers who have been carrying out a series of protests against Labour’s so-called ‘family death tax’.
Deputy Prime Minister 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’.
She added: ‘The Planning and Infrastructure Bill will unleash seismic reforms to help builders get shovels in the ground quicker to build more homes, and the vital infrastructure we need to improve transport links and make Britain a clean energy superpower to protect billpayers.’
Currently, land bought under CPOs is sold at its so-called ‘hope values’, which reflect beliefs on what the land would be worth with the requisite planning permission.
Tractors lined up on the streets of London during a protest against Labour’s inheritance tax, despite police issuing a specific ban on them
Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner visit a construction site in Cambridgeshire — December 12, 2024
These are said to sometimes significantly drive up prices, leading to major delays as owners haggle over values.
Reforms introduced earlier this year allowed councils to apply for permission to use compulsory purchase orders without hope values.
But these new reforms would allow for councils to do this without needing to consult the government.
Last week, several enormous combine harvesters parked up along Whitehall in central London for the ‘Pancake Day rally’ despite a police ban on all tractors and ‘mechanically propelled vehicles’ from the capital.
The march was the latest action being taken by farmers to protest the hated levy change, which would force farmers to pay 20 per cent inheritance tax on agricultural land worth more than £1million.
Several high-profile politicians including Reform leader Nigel Farage and Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch attended the protest to express their opposition to the crippling tax.
As protesters marched down Embankment to Bob Dylan’s ‘Knockin on Heaven’s Door’ campaign organisers at the front of the procession held a banner warning: ‘Is agriculture worth dying for?’
It comes as campaigners argue the tax, which comes into effect next year, is ‘incentivising’ elderly farmers to commit suicide before April 2026 to avoid being penalised.
Labour’s Planning and Infrastructure Bill is expected to include changes to how planning decisions are made, with more applications decided by planning officers rather than elected councillors, and council planning committees slimmed down to ‘ensure good debate is encouraged’.
Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner during a visit to the London Power Tunnels at Old Kent Road — March 10, 2025
Thousands of outraged farmers descended on Westminster on March 4, 2025, to protest against the so-called ‘family death tax’
The march is the latest action by farmers to protest the hated levy change, which would force farmers to pay 20 per cent inheritance tax on agricultural land worth more than £1m
Campaigners argue the tax, which comes into effect next year, is ‘incentivising’ elderly farmers to commit suicide before April 2026 to avoid being penalised
Several enormous combine harvesters parked up along Whitehall in central London for the ‘Pancake Day rally’ despite a police ban on the vehicles in the capital
Protesters held up banners as they protested against the controversial inheritance tax
Councils will also be allowed to set their own planning fees to recover their costs, while ‘meritless’ legal challenges to major applications will face a crackdown.
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.
There will also be a scheme for those living near new electricity pylons to receive up to £250 a year off their energy bills for 10 years along with community projects such as leisure facilities in order to encourage communities to host vital infrastructure.
These measures are likely to be funded by an increase in energy bills for other consumers, but it is understood the Government expects this to be an increase of only a few pence per household when spread throughout the country.
But many of the details remain to be decided and will be subject to consultation, including how the bill discount scheme will work and which decisions will be made by planning officers rather than councillors.
There will also be a consultation on whether to remove some organisations such as Sport England and the Theatres Trust from the list of bodies legally required to be consulted on planning decisions.
Housing minister Matthew Pennycook told reporters that consultations would run in parallel with the legislative process, saying this would allow the Government to implement new measures faster once the Bill had received royal assent.
He also insisted that decisions on ‘the most significant and controversial’ applications would still be made by councillors.
Sam Richards, CEO of campaign group Britain Remade, welcomed the proposals, saying they would mean ‘more jobs for builders and less work for lawyers’.
Farmers marched along in Whitehall, central London, on March 4, 2025, to protest the reform
But he added that there was a ‘risk’ that the proposals would not ‘consign £120 million bat tunnels…to history’, saying: ‘Only when this is achieved will we have a planning system that truly backs the builds and not the blockers.’
Housebuilders also welcomed the proposals, with Home Builders Federation chief executive Neil Jefferson describing them as ‘swift moves to address the failings in the planning system’.
He said: ‘Removing blockages, speeding up the decision-making process and ensuring local planning departments have the capacity to process applications effectively will be essential to getting more sites up and running.’
But the proposed changes to environmental rules could prove contentious, with campaigners seeking to reject the argument that they act as ‘blockers’ in the planning system.
Richard Benwell, CEO of nature coalition Wildlife and Countryside Link, welcomed some aspects of Tuesday’s legislation, but called for more enforcement to ‘ensure that unsustainable development can never proceed with impunity’.
He added: ‘For nature recovery and development to go hand-in-hand, the Bill should be strengthened with a guarantee that all planning decisions must be compatible with nature and climate targets, more protection for irreplaceable habitats and nature recovery areas, and new building regulations for biodiversity so that all infrastructure is wilder by design.’
