as his net worth soars. and a pm pick. the clock is ticking in france as pressure mounts on emmanuel macron to choose a new prime minister. welcome to business today. i'm ben thompson. we begin in new york where the champagne was popping on wall street as the world's biggest tech index — the nasdaq — broke new ground on wednesday. shares in big tech companies continue to rally with the latest inflation report the reason for the latest spike. let's look at the numbers — the nasdaq closed above 20,000 for the very first time — up 1.8% on the day. it's now up about one—third in 202a. the s&p 500 added 0.8% and is up more than 27% so far this year. the dowjones bucked the trend, dipping slightly — dragged by health insurers as us lawmakers introduced a bill seen

as crimping their profits. while inflation has cooling throughout 2024, concerns around the cost of living remain a hot button issue. we will talk about that at some more a little bit later. as the tech stocks climb so does the net worth of certain tech billonaires. elon musk�*s has surpassed $400 billion for the first time which is an historic first. michelle fleury was watching all the action in new york. the richest person in the world just got richer. elon musk now boasts a net worth of $400 billion, making him the first person in history to ever hit that milestone. shares in tesla, his electric vehicle company, rose to a new record high on the same day that the tech—heavy nasdaq index hit 20,000 points for the first time in its history. tesla shares have rallied 69% since the election of donald trump.

but it was a sale of shares at his privately held firm spacex, valuing the company at $350 billion, that supercharged his wealth. the move boosted the founder's net worth to $439 billion according to bloomberg. last week a delaware judge rejected musk�*s multi—billion dollar tesla pay packet, but even if it is revoked, trump's buddy will still be the world's richest person, and as mr musk prepares to lead efforts to deregulate and streamline government operations, it's perhaps a sign that wealth and power in america have become even more closely intertwined. michelle fleury there in new york for us. here in europe, eyes are on the european central bank for an interest rate decision shortly. more on that in a moment. it is all tied as well to what may happen in france. and will we learn later who will be the next

prime minister of france? on tuesday, president macron gathered political leaders — including socialists, centrists and the rightwing les republicains — in a move to form what he called a "government of national interest". but marine le pen's far—right national rally and jean—luc melenchon�*s leftwing lfi were not invited. president macron suggested a new prime minister would be announced by today. let's cross live now to tomasz michalski associate professor of economics at the hec business school in paris. tomasz, good to have you here. first question, who would want thisjob? why would first question, who would want this job? why would you first question, who would want thisjob? why would you become the prime minister knowing we will have elections next year? well, you can be... studio: this is bbc news. the government is outlining its plans to try to solve the housing crisis — giving final details of reforms to the planning system. let's cross live to westminster for the announcement. within our first within ourfirst month in office, we proposed a bold set

office, we proposed a bold set of reforms to overhaul a planning system that is faltering on all fronts after a decade of piecemeal and inept tinkering by the party opposite. today i can confirm to the house that we are delivering the change we promised by publishing an updated national planning policy framework meeting our commitment to do so by the end of the year and supporting our ambitious plan for change milestone of building 1.5 million new homes in this parliament. mr speaker, the case for grasping the nettle of planning reform in order to significantly boost housing supply and unleash economic growth is incontrovertible. england is in the grip of an acute and entrenched housing crisis. as you want every member of the house will know, it's detrimental consequences are now all pervasive. a generation locked out of home ownership, 1.3 million people are languishing on social housing waiting lists, millions of low income households forced into insecure, unaffordable and far too often substandard private rented housing and to

our shame as a nation, mr speaker, just shy of 160,000 homeless children living right now in temporary accommodation. 0ur now in temporary accommodation. our economy and the public services our constituents rely on are also suffering. as well as blighting countless lives, the housing crisis is consuming ever larger amounts of public money in the form of a rapidly rising housing benefit bill. and it is hampering economic growth and productivity by reducing labour mobility and undermining the capacity of our great towns and cities to realise their full economic potential. the government is under no illusions about the task before us or the challenges that must be overcome and the pitfalls avoided to succeed but we are absolutely determined to tackle this crisis head—on. the previous government took a different

ina in a forlorn attempt to let me turn to the changes we are making to the frame today. we received over 10,000 responses to our consultation alongside which our officials have held extensive engagement with private house—builders, affordable has providers, local authorities and other organisations from the sector. the view is shared with us have been invaluable in helping

refine our initial proposals so we are able to introduce an effective package of reform today. before i set out a number of important areas in which we have made changes, let me touch briefly on some of the proposals we tent temperaments. reversing changes made by the last government almost exactly one year ago, from the abandonment of mandatory housing targets to the softening of land supply and test provisions, the policies that gave local authorities the freedom to plan for less housing than their nominal targets implied are no more. second, we have made explicit the importance of growth supporting development from data centres to supply chains and logistics. in the same vein, we have made clear the default position for renewable energy deployment should be yes. third, we strongly promote mixed tenure developments, reflecting the fact they build out fast and create diverse communities. fourth, we have made a series of changes to bolster affordable housing

delivery and enable local authorities to determine the right mix of affordable housing to their communities. this will support our commitment to providing the most affordable house building in a generation. there are then four important areas where we have refined our proposals. let me turn first to housing targets. as we made clear when launching the consultation injuly, restoring a mandatory standard method for assessing housing needs is insufficient if the method itself isn't up to the job. as the house will know, we proposed a bold change. increasing the total annual national charge a target from 300,000 to 370,000, ending the reliance on decades—old population projections and removing the arbitrary 35% urban uplift resulting in a skewed, focusing on london to the detriment of the rest of the detriment of the rest of the country. we fully intend to maintain the ambition we put announced injuly but we had through the consultation a clear view we should do more to

target housing growth on those places where affordability pressures are most acute. we therefore have made redistricting housing targets towards those places where housing is least affordable while maintaining the overall target. next, let me turn to our reforms to the green belt. as you will know, mr speaker, i was is a brownfield first approach to development. as a result of a number of targeted changes made to the framework and our proposals for a brownfield passport, we are proper prior and fast tracking building on previous urban land when possible. we know there are simply not enough sites on brownfield land registers to deliver the volume of homes that the country needs each year let alone enough that are viable and in the right location. in the summer, we propose that local authorities should take a sequential approach to releasing land to meet their housing need, brownfield first followed by low quality land in the green belt and only then higher performing land. to identify low performing sites, we

propose a definition of grey boat land that reflected the fact there are areas currently designated as grey boat which provide little in terms of ecological value. this approach got broad support during the consultation but subjectivity desire was expressed. we have set out a clear description of how to set out whether the land meets the definition of grey boat and will provide further guidance to local authorities in the new year to support them with green belt reviews. at the centre of our green boat reforms lie our golden rules, these are designed to make sure that where green belt land is released, the public derives real benefit from developing on it including more affordable housing to meet local need. in the consultation, we proposed a flat 50% affordable housing target but recognise because land values vary across the country, the limited use of viability assessments should be permitted. through the consultation, we have recognised this approach risked uncertainty. if flexibility was

neededin uncertainty. if flexibility was needed in some parts of the country because land values were lower, deeper —— the precise... if a local authority did not allow flexibility, there would be a risk sites were rendered unviable with the result that no houses, affordable or otherwise, would get built. 0urfinal affordable or otherwise, would get built. our final policy takes a different approach to managing variation in land values. ratherthan managing variation in land values. rather than a single 50% target, we are introducing a 15% premium on top of targets set in local plans up to a maximum of 50% and because that means the target itself would be responsive to local circumstances, we will be restricting the ability for spite specific viability assessments until we have amended viability guidance in spring next year. by privileging pragmatism over purity, the rules we are putting in place today will give the community is the confidence they will be met and maximise the number of affordable homes delivered across the country. another area we have made changes is to

the presumption in favour of sustainable development. the presumption that sits at the heart of the national planning policy framework and means where a local authority has undelivered or an up—to—date local plan isn't in place, the balance of decision—making is tilted in favour of approval. we are determined to ensure that where the presumption applies it will have real teeth but at the same time, we are clear that development consent must be in line with national policy related to sustainability, density, design and the provision of affordable homes. the changes we have made me deliver on both these fronts. finally, in the consultation we sought views of how our changes apply to local authorities at an advanced stage of planned making. 0ur stage of planned making. our proposed transitional arrangements planned to strike arrangements planned to strike a balance between maintaining the progress of plans at more advanced stages of preparation while maximising proactive planning for the home is our communities need. the core of our proposal, that we only hold back a draft plan when there is

a significant gap between the current proposed housing requirement under the new housing target was well supported. however, we are making three changes. first, we have taken on board can sense that the transitional period was too tight and so we will provide local planning authorities with an extra two months to progress their plans, extending the transitional period from one month to three. second, and again responding to something we had repeatedly, the transitional arrangements will meet at least 80% of local housing need rather than numerical 200 homes threshold we originally proposed. in these instances, the plans will not be held back. third, where plans are adopted under these arrangements and where there are existing plans based on the old targets due to run for a number of years yet, we want to see the level of ambition raised sooner rather than later. sooner rather than later. as a result from the 1st ofjuly 2026, we would expect authorities with plans adopted under the old standard to provide an extra year's worth of

homes in their housing plan to accelerate the delivery of new homes. we recognise that we are asking much for many local authorities as we are determined to support local leaders trying in good faith to deliver homes for the communities, that is why it was dedicated local plan funding, the planning capacity capability to support and out in the budget and the income from raised fees, we will be injecting more than £100 million into the system in the coming year. to conclude, we are confident that the revised framework we are introducing today will support significantly higher rates of house and sustained economic growth. we have listened carefully to the views expressed in consultation and have adjusted several areas of policy accordingly stop now it is for others to do their part. developers must turn supported words into action, bringing forward new sites and building them at pace, local authorities must embrace the challenge of higher targets and push for more and better development in their areas.

for more and better development in theirareas. mr speaker for more and better development in their areas. mr speaker we have moved fast, we have not held back, we have not shied away from controversial decisions, you are wavered in the face of those who sought to chip away at our resolve, with focus and determination we have pushed on to ensure that we are putting in place a planning system geared towards meeting housing need, before, and unleashing economic growth. change will take time, homes are not built overnight and the inheritance means that the climb out of the trough we are in will be a steep one but by implementing this revised framework we have taken another decisive step towards a future in which everyone will enjoy a decent, safe, secure and affordable home in which to live. i commend this statement to the house. i welcome the ambitious target of 1.5 million homes in this parliament. i think the minister may have unintentionally misled the

house regarding the dire inheritance he