Housing secretary says ‘job on the line’ over 1.5m housing target

Many big or controversial planning applications are currently decided not by trained council planning officers, but by elected local councillors on planning committees.

This means national priorities like building more homes often clash with local opposition.

Councils are also supposed to adopt a “local plan”, a document outlining where development should happen and how it aligns with national policy. These plans can help to streamline planning approvals – if a proposal fits the plan, it should get permission unless there is a strong reason to reject it.

This means these documents are controversial, and can often face fierce local opposition.

Fewer than a third of councils currently have an up-to-date local plan in England, according to the Planning Inspectorate.

But Reed told Panorama the government will soon force councils to adopt a local plan.

Under proposed changes, councils will have to produce a plan within 30 months of starting the process – instead of the current average of seven years.

The government has also announced it will boost funding and training for planning authorities to help them with their plans.

Reed insisted government reforms would help developers build more homes, including mandating new housebuilding targets for councils and “more powers” for him to call in – or review – “unreasonably” rejected housing development schemes.

Reforms to the rules governing protected green belt land, which makes up 12.5% of land in England, have also been suggested by the government.

The first green belt was created in the 1930s, to try to stop cities from sprawling into the countryside. But many sections of green belt today contain intensive farming units, industrial buildings, quarries and golf courses.

The government has come up with a new concept called the “grey belt”. The aim is to make it easier to get planning permission for green belt land that is considered low quality or has already been built on.

However, the government has left it up to each local authority to decide which sites qualify locally as grey belt.