A Conservative spokesman said the government's plans are "nothing more than a list of empty promises which will do nothing to ensure that Britain has the housing it needs where it needs it". Earlier this week, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer restated his pledge to build 1.5 million new homes by 2029 despite accepting it could be "a little too ambitious". The fast-track planning process would apply to housing proposals and associated infrastructure such as schools, if they had already been broadly agreed as part of local development plans where councils set out a strategy for land use in their areas. If the proposals "comply" with these plans, the government said, they could "bypass planning committees entirely to tackle chronic uncertainty, unacceptable delays and unnecessary waste of time and resources". Rayner said building more homes and infrastructure meant "unblocking the clogged-up planning system that serves as a chokehold on growth".