Secretary of state Michael Gove intends to change planning laws to allow more conversions of shops into houses in England.
The changes are expected to be announced later today and will allow shops, takeaways and betting shops to be turned into living spaces.
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said the proposals were designed to help rejuvenate high streets and provide greater density of housing in inner cities.
The latest planning shake-up will also see the creation of more than a dozen new development corporations that would be able to use CPO powers and grant planning permission in a bid to boost building in urban areas, a new “super squad” of planners to help unblock major developments, a planning skills delivery fund, and a review of permitted development rights to make it easier to extend homes.
Prime minister Rishi Sunak will promise the government can deliver new homes without “concreting over” the countryside.
The new development corporations are expected to be formed in the eight regions already identified as investment zones, with a new “urban quarter” planned in Cambridge.
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