The trade association will continue to push for the right conditions to accelerate development and create quality homes that the nation needs.

The Builders Merchants Federation has welcomed Government plans to speed up the planning system and get new homes built across Britain.

Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Levelling up, Housing and Communities, unveiled reforms to housing and planning at a meeting held on 19 December at the RIBA head office in London.

The Housing Secretary said he was ‘confident’ the government will meet the manifesto pledge of increasing housebuilding to 300,000 homes a year by the middle of the decade ‘once we get back to a normal level of interest and mortgage rates.’

He also pledged to introduce more accountability for local councils, with league tables for planning authorities.

John Newcomb, CEO of the BMF, was among invited guests to hear the speech, where the Housing Secretary announced the publication of the National Planning Policy Framework.

The BMF says the move to accelerate approvals through the planning system will provide a boost for housing development creating new jobs and local growth.

Newcomb, said: “We need to get Britain building again. This speech was a step in the right direction in setting out intent to increase accountability in the planning system in order to deal with the root cause of the country’s housing issues, namely a lack of supply.

“We will now study further details of the policy and continue to push for the right conditions to accelerate development and create quality homes that the nation needs.”