The government will meet its manifesto commitment to build 1 million homes over this parliament, the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, has announced.

Reaching this target would represent a milestone for the government. Since 2010, over 2.2 million new homes have been delivered.

The pledge comes ahead of a major speech by the Housing and Levelling Up Secretary, Michael Gove, in which he will set out new measures to unblock the planning system and build more homes in the right places where there is local consent.

Rather than concreting over the countryside, the government will focus on prioritising building in inner-city areas where demand is highest and growth is being constrained. This includes a new urban quarter in Cambridge. Working with local leaders and communities in Cambridge, a new quarter will create new homes, supported by state of the art facilities with cutting-edge laboratories and green spaces.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “Today I can confirm that we will meet our manifesto commitment to build 1 million homes over this parliament. That’s a beautiful new home for a million individual families in every corner of our country.

“We need to keep going because we want more people to realise the dream of owning their own home.

“We won’t do that by concreting over the countryside – our plan is to build the right homes where there is the most need and where there is local support, in the heart of Britain’s great cities.

“Our reforms today will help make that a reality, by regenerating disused brownfield land, streamlining planning process and helping homeowners to renovate and extend their houses outwards and upwards.

Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Michael Gove said: “Most people agree that we need to build more homes – the question is how we go about it.

“Rather than concreting over the countryside, we have set out a plan today to build the right homes in the right places where there is community support – and we’re putting the resources behind it to help make this vision a reality.

“At the heart of this is making sure that we build beautiful and empower communities to have a say in the development in their area.”

The government will also take steps to unblock the bottlenecks in the planning system that are choking and slowing down development, and stopping growth and investment by:

• Immediately launching a £24 million Planning Skills Delivery Fund to clear backlogs and get the right skills in place.
• Setting up a new “super-squad” team of leading planners and other experts charged with working across the planning system to unblock major housing developments. The team will first be deployed in Cambridge to turbocharge plans in the city.

Developers will also be asked to contribute more through fees, to help support a higher quality more efficient planning service.

New flexibilities to convert shops, takeaways and betting shops into homes will help to rejuvenate the high street. Meanwhile, red tape will be cut to enable barn conversions and the repurposing agricultural buildings and disused warehouses.

New freedoms to extend homes, convert lofts and renovate new buildings will help to convert existing properties into new accommodation. A review into the extension of permitted development rights will make it easier for homeowners to build upwards and outwards – with new extensions and loft conversions – whilst ensuring neighbours’ interests are protected.

Community support is vital in making these plans a success and the housing secretary has been clear any developments must be beautiful, come with the right infrastructure and designed with locals in mind. That is why the housing secretary is also announcing:

• Office for Place – a new body will be launched to lead a design revolution and ensure local people have a say in how housing is designed.
• A consultation on reforming local plans, to make them simpler, shorter and more visual, showing clearly what is planned in local areas so communities can engage.

Ryan Shorthouse, CEO, Bright Blue: “To give younger people from modest backgrounds a better chance of home ownership, we urgently need to build more homes in desirable parts of the country.  The welcome measures announced today will help quicken and simplify the planning process, and are thus strong steps towards achieving greater and greener homes. But these policies are only the start of the major demand-side and supply-side reforms that are needed to the housing market to ensure more young people can enjoy the benefits of property ownership.”

Dean Finch CEO, Persimmon: “Persimmon welcomes the proposals announced today to deliver much needed reform of the planning system with the aim of accelerating the development of new homes that will help hard-pressed people achieve their dream of affordable home ownership.”

Jack Pringle, chair of the RIBA Board: “We are pleased to see today’s announcements which will enable the vital action needed to tackle the housing crisis. Measures to increase planning resource are welcome and critical to build the homes that we need. New homes do need to be delivered at pace, and we should aim to deliver quality as well as quantity. We remain committed to working with our partners in government to deliver well-designed, accessible and sustainable homes in the places that need them most.”

Richard Harpin, founder and chairman, Homeserve: “I welcome this investment from the Government to build more homes in a sensible way to help grow the economy. It is good to see Government listening to business and backing areas such as Cambridge.”