The statement also promotes more homes for families with gardens and play areas for children and puts the onus on councils to ensure that there is an appropriate mix of housing types to meet the needs of the entire community.

Although the statement continues to promote brownfield development for housing, it chimes in with the recent Barker Review (earlier story in knowledgebase) by removing the requirement for low density and greenfield developments to be automatically referred to the Secretary of State from 1st April next year.

The statement gives authorities greater power in ensuring an increased proportion of affordable housing on larger development sites and they will need to identify more appropriate sites for housing for 15 years ahead.