Housing developers should be forced to build new or expanded GP surgeries as part of every new development in the country, the Liberal Democrats have proposed.
Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats
Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said the party would pass a law requiring developers to build or fund new surgeries via taxes levied on them, which would have to be completed by the time residents moved in.
“What is it that stops homes getting built so often? It’s the fact that people know that too often, new developments don’t come with the services and infrastructure they need,” Davey said at a news conference yesterday afternoon (14 April), where he was surrounded by mock missing posters featuring GPs.
“If we are going to solve the housing crisis, we have to address those concerns,” Davey said.
The Lib Dem leader added that the party would ensure that developer levies could also be used to pay the contracts or salaries of GPs.
The party did not make it clear whether there would be parameters determining the size of developments subject to the new law. The party’s official wording said, “every new development should include new or expanded GP surgeries”.
Section 106 and Community Infrastructure Levy funding can already be used to fund hospital, health and social care facilities, but the Lib Dems said this process is “disjointed and not fit for purpose” and that their proposal would ensure that “surgeries are not only built but funded and staffed from the get-go”.
A recent study published by the Home Builders Federation found that £9bn in developer contributions was being held unspent by local authorities in England and Wales – up £800m from mid-2024.
In a post on X, Sir Simon Clarke, former Conservative minister for levelling up, housing and communities and now director of the Onward think tank, labelled the Lid Dem’s proposals “totally mad”.
He added: “What modelling have they done, if any, about the impact on housebuilding, already at a record, devastating low?”
Please visit:
Our Sponsor