<p>A CLG committee report has today accused the government of creating a "vacuum at the heart" of the planning system by scrapping housing targets and that, as a result, fewer homes are being built.</p> <p>The committee said the government now faced "a stark choice" of compromising on its intention to build more new homes than Labour or on its pursuit of its localism strategy. </p> <p>It added that there was little evidence to demonstrate how effective the New Homes Bonus would be and questioned whether the government's aspiration to build 150,000 affordable homes over the next four years "will be achievable" under the current proposals.</p> <p>HBF director of external afairs John Slaughter welcomed the report, saying: "This report demonstrates how vital it is that a new, pro-development planning system is put in place as soon as possible."</p>