Doubt cast on 300,000 homes target

Housing secretary Michael Gove has said the government will “do everything it can” to build 300,000 homes a year by the middle of the decade, as promised in the Conservative election manifesto.

But in an interview with Radio 4’s Today programme, Gove said the government would not be "tied to a procrustean bed" – an arbitrary target – and that it would be “no kind of success to simply hit a target if the homes that are built are shoddy, in the wrong place, don't have the infrastructure required and are not contributing to beautiful communities.”

It follows the confirmation in the Queen’s Speech yesterday that the government has dropped plans for a new and separate bill to reform planning rules in England. Instead changes will be part of the new Levelling up and Regeneration Bill.

The government says its new proposals will give communities a “louder voice, making sure developments are beautiful, green and accompanied by new infrastructure and affordable housing.”

The new bill is set to replace section 106 agreements “with a locally set, non-negotiable levy to deliver the infrastructure that communities need.”

Gove confirmed at the weekend that the bill would include design codes and …