The government has watered down its housebuilding targets, as it set out new measures in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill.
The move came after nearly 60 Conservative MPs threatened to back a plan to ban mandatory housing targets in England, delaying votes on the Bill.
Former chancellor Phillip Hammond unveiled a target in 2017 to build 300,000 homes a year by the mid 2020s.
Now housing secretary Michael Gove has told councils that while housing targets remain, they are a “starting point”, with new flexibilities to “reflect local circumstances”.
Gove said: “If we are to deliver the new homes this country needs, new development must have the support of local communities. That requires people to know it will be beautiful, accompanied by the right infrastructure, approved democratically, that it will enhance the environment and create proper neighbourhoods.”
