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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| New planning rules will silence local voices - Labour | New planning rules will silence local voices - Labour |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| New planning laws will "silence local voices and kill off our high streets", Labour has said as it urged Conservative MPs to vote them down. | |
| Labour says the rules for England would allow developers to convert shops into homes without planning permission. | |
| They are the first stage of sweeping changes to the planning system aimed at speeding up development. | |
| The government promised to make the system "more democratic" while building the "homes communities need". | |
| Labour has secured a vote in the House of Commons on Wednesday as it attempts to overturn the first stage of the reforms, announced before the summer recess. | |
| Under this, empty high street shops could be converted into housing and up to two storeys could be added to blocks of flats without the need for planning permission. | |
| For Labour, shadow housing minister Mike Amesbury said: "This is the first stage of an atrocious new developers' charter, which will wrench power away from local people and into the hands of the developers that bankroll the Tories. | For Labour, shadow housing minister Mike Amesbury said: "This is the first stage of an atrocious new developers' charter, which will wrench power away from local people and into the hands of the developers that bankroll the Tories. |
| "Passing this legislation will kill off our high streets, hobble leaseholders and create a new generation of slum housing - and there will be nothing local people can do to stop it." | "Passing this legislation will kill off our high streets, hobble leaseholders and create a new generation of slum housing - and there will be nothing local people can do to stop it." |
| 'Crackers' | 'Crackers' |
| There is widespread concern among Conservative MPs about the wider reforms. | There is widespread concern among Conservative MPs about the wider reforms. |
| One of them, Sir Peter Bottomley, has described the new rules as "crackers", adding that they would allow landlords "to shove a two-storey block on top of a building with total disregard for how inappropriate it might be in the local neighbourhood". | One of them, Sir Peter Bottomley, has described the new rules as "crackers", adding that they would allow landlords "to shove a two-storey block on top of a building with total disregard for how inappropriate it might be in the local neighbourhood". |
| Ahead of the debate, the government announced a concession that all homes created under the scheme would in future have to have at least 37 sq m of floor space. | |
| This follows complaints that flats less than half this size - and some without windows - have been built in recent years. | |
| A government spokesperson said a "minority of developers" had been "delivering small homes without justification", adding: "The changes announced today will put an end to this." | |
| At Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, Conservative MP Harriet Baldwin said the formula suggested by the government to allocate homes to different areas had "overshot in terms of numbers", while investment would go into "concreting down rather than levelling up". | |
| She urged Boris Johnson to "change some of the elements of this". | She urged Boris Johnson to "change some of the elements of this". |
| The prime minister replied: "We are going to ensure we have a planning system that is fit for purpose, that allows us to give young people for the first time in a generation the chance of home ownership, which currently millions and millions of people are shut out from." | The prime minister replied: "We are going to ensure we have a planning system that is fit for purpose, that allows us to give young people for the first time in a generation the chance of home ownership, which currently millions and millions of people are shut out from." |
| He added that it was possible to do so without "desecrating our beautiful countryside". | He added that it was possible to do so without "desecrating our beautiful countryside". |
| Under the government's wider proposals, which have gone out to consultation, land will be divided into three categories - "growth", "renewal" or "protected". | Under the government's wider proposals, which have gone out to consultation, land will be divided into three categories - "growth", "renewal" or "protected". |
| If land is designated for "renewal" councils would have to look favourably on new developments. In "growth" areas, new homes, hospitals and schools will be allowed automatically. | If land is designated for "renewal" councils would have to look favourably on new developments. In "growth" areas, new homes, hospitals and schools will be allowed automatically. |
| Areas of outstanding natural beauty and the green belt will come under the "protected" category and "beautiful buildings" will be fast-tracked through the system. | Areas of outstanding natural beauty and the green belt will come under the "protected" category and "beautiful buildings" will be fast-tracked through the system. |
| A Housing, Communities and Local Government Department spokesperson described Labour's claims as "misguided". | |
| "Community involvement and control is at the centre of our proposals so local people will be consulted from the very beginning when local plans are developed - making the system more democratic," they added. | "Community involvement and control is at the centre of our proposals so local people will be consulted from the very beginning when local plans are developed - making the system more democratic," they added. |