Gove delay to planning reforms ‘will mean more young people in overpriced rented homes’

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Michael Gove’s decision to review controversial planning reforms has been greeted with horror by campaigners for affordable housing, who warn that delays in removing obstacles to home-building will consign ever more young people to overpriced rented homes. But the pause was welcomed by countryside campaigners as a chance to make a “fresh start” after the fury sparked by the “deeply unpopular” proposals drawn up by Mr Gove’s predecessor as housing secretary. Every month that we fail to build enough homes, more people are forced to live with their parents into their 30s, or to delay their dreams of homeownership.” But Mr Gove’s stance was welcomed by Tory MPs who saw the shock by-election defeat in leafy Chesham and Amersham in June as a warning of the potential for revolt in the True Blue shires by voters worried that green spaces would be concreted over. “As Michael Gove grapples with his new in-tray, we urge the government to take a fresh look at how to grasp this golden opportunity of creating a planning system fit for the 21st century that has people and nature at its heart.” Labour’s shadow communities secretary Steve Reed said the reforms should be scrapped altogether.