Brownfield home sites 'a priority'

ALL English councils will be told to prioritise brownfield developments to boost housebuilding while protecting the green belt.

- Steph Spyro

The bar for refusing brownfield plans will also be made much higher for big city councils, who are failing to hit their locally agreed housebuilding targets, the Government has insisted.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: "We pledged to build the right homes in the right places protecting our precious countryside and building more in urban areas where demand is highest. Today's package is us delivering on that.

"We are sticking to our plan and are on track to meet our commitment to deliver one million homes over the course of this Parliament and the changes announced today will deliver the right mix of homes across England." A consultation on proposals will launch today and run until March 26. The Government will look to make the changes to national planning policy as soon as possible.