Conservative MPs are calling on the housing secretary to hand greater power over new housing to local people in an attempt to boost acceptance of new developments.
Steve Baker and Greg Smith, Tory MPs in house-price hotspots in Buckinghamshire, are backing a plan to strip councils of decision-making powers over some new developments and instead incentivise residents to approve new schemes.
The idea, floated by the Social Market Foundation think-tank, would allow residents of streets or villages to vote on whether to accept additional development in their close vicinity. The theory is that they are more likely to support allowing more extensions or new homes on underused sites if they stand to benefit themselves from the planning consents.
