news Michael Gove drops mandatory housebuilding targets in front of Tory rebellion

Mandatory housebuilding targets have been scrapped by Michael Gove in the face of a Tory backbench rebellion, The Telegraph can disclose. He has agreed to change his landmark

Leveling-Up and Regeneration Bill to make clear that centrally-dictated targets are "advisory". The new rules will mean that town halls will be allowed to build fewer homes than

Whitehall believes are needed if they can show that hitting the targets would significantly change the character of an area. The Leveling-Up Secretary has also agreed to water down

the powers of the Planning Inspectorate, making it harder for them to reject local development plans which have been agreed with the community. And he has pledged to make it clear

that more homes will be built in urban areas and in the North as part of the Government's vision to level up the country. In another change, town halls will be allowed to introduce

registration schemes for short-term holiday lets and there will be a consultation on allowing them to require a change of use planning application if there is a switch from

residential to short-term 'Airbnb- type' use. Campaigners say that the problem in places like Devon and Cornwall is that many people are turning homes into Airbnbs, which reduces

the number of affordable houses available and in turn increases the pressure to build more. 60 Tory MPs called for target to be scrapped The climb-down came after 60 Conservative

MPs signed an amendment laid by Theresa Villiers and Bob Seely calling on the Government to scrap its target that 300,000 homes should be built each year. Facing the threat of a

huge loss of authority for Rishi Sunak, the Government last month pulled key votes on the Leveling-Up and Regeneration Bill. Following talks with the rebels, Mr Gove has now agreed

to make a series of changes to ensure the Bill can proceed. The rebels say the changes will rebalance the planning system to give local communities a greater say in what is built

in their neighbourhoods. They include a crackdown on developers keeping land unused even though it has been granted planning permission - a trick which keeps prices high and

pressures councils to find even more land to build on. There will also be a series of government reviews, including one on making it easier to build on brownfield land. 'These

reforms will rebalance the planning system' Ms Villiers, a former environment secretary, said: "These reforms will rebalance the planning system and give local communities a

greater say over what is built in their neighbourhood. "The Government has listened and will amend planning rules so that councils which are subject to genuine constraints will be