Govt to speed up home building

The government has announced plans to speed up the delivery of new greener, affordable homes for first time buyers and families.

It follows the publication of the Callcutt Review, which looked at how capable the house building industry is when it comes to providing future housing.

On the back of the review, housing minister Yvette Cooper has revealed that changes will be made to the system in order to make it easier and quicker to build new homes.

"We urgently need to build more affordable, greener homes for this and future generations. But we cannot afford to wait for developers who may drag their feet once planning permission has been granted, hoping to benefit from increases in land value," she said.

"That's why we are looking at what changes could be made to the planning system to make sure that developers really are making a substantial start on their projects.

"We also want to stamp out any potential for hidden land banking by making sure that land assets are completely transparent in financial statements," added Ms Cooper.

The government wants to build three million new homes by 2020.

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