Victoria Collins MP invites Prime Minister to the impact of housing targets

3 June 2026

Lib Dem MP, Victoria Collins, has challenged Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer at Prime Minister's Questions over top-down housing targets that are leaving our local councils and communities powerless, without the affordable homes or services we need, while failing to protect our precious landscapes. 

During Prime Minister’s Questions, Victoria warned that the Government is forcing large-scale development onto local communities without the roads, schools, GP surgeries and other infrastructure needed to support it. All while a median new build home was over £750,000 last year in Harpenden & Berkhamsted. 

She pushed Keir Starmer on his Government's current approach which leaves councils and residents with too little say over local decisions which will shape their local area for decades to come. These top-down targets are not delivering the affordable homes and services we need on precious local landscapes. 

While local councils are finalising housing plans, the government's new targets will drive those numbers up dramatically.

She warned that local communities are being asked to absorb new houses without the guarantees from the government legislation on infrastructure, limited public transport and rising housing costs. This is also happening in light of nearby national infrastructure strains such as Luton Airport expansion. During PMQs, Victoria called on the Prime Minister to urgently review the targets and visit Harpenden & Berkhamsted to see firsthand the impact they could have on local communities.

Victoria Collins MP said:

"Local people understand we need the right homes in the right places, but these top-down targets are completely disconnected from reality.

“Communities across Harpenden, Berkhamsted, Tring & our villages are facing huge increases in development while infrastructure struggles to keep up and affordable homes remain out of reach for many families. The broken planning system is not fixing this problem.

"We need homes people can actually afford, alongside the roads, schools, GP services and public transport communities need. That means working with local areas, not imposing unrealistic expectations.”