Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks with homeowner Jennifer Norton, (Image: Ben Birchall/Pool Photo via AP)

       Rishi Sunak yesterday insisted ministers will not “ride roughshod” over local communities concerned by housing developments.

       The Prime Minister said the Government wants to “build in the right places” as Housing Secretary Michael Gove laid out plans to turbocharge new homes.

       Mr Sunak declared the Conservatives will not target the “very special” countryside and will instead focus on brownfield sites and “expanding upwards and outwards”.

       Ministers want to create a new “inner-city renaissance” in places such as London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Cambridge, Leeds and even in towns such as Barrow to unlock economic growth.

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       But the Government is facing pressure from some of its own MPs who have vowed to fight plans to build more homes in Cambridge.

       Mr Sunak said: “No one is doing mass house building in Cambridge, this is about adding a new urban quarter to Cambridge, which is something that local communities have spoken about.

       “And of course that will be done in dialogue with local communities.

       “But I think it is important to bring local communities along with you, we have housing targets, they are set by local communities and their locally elected representatives.”

       However, Anthony Browne, South Cambridgeshire MP, said: “I will do everything I can to stop the Government’s nonsense plans to impose mass housebuilding on Cambridge, where all major developments are now blocked by the Environment Agency because we have literally run out of water.”

       MP Anthony Browne outside the former Barclays site in Sawston (Image: Sawston)

       He added: “Cambridge already has about the highest housebuilding in the country and under the local plans that is set to double with 50,000 new homes by 2050, effectively doubling the size of Cambridge.”

       Speaking on a visit to the West Midlands yesterday during which he met homeowner Jennifer Norton and graduate site manager, Kareen Thompson, Mr Sunak insisted the Government was making “good progress” towards its manifesto commitment to build 300,000 homes a year. In 2021/22, 233,000 homes were built.

       Defending the Government’s record, he said: “[In] the past few years, we have seen some of the biggest years for new housing supply that we’ve seen in decades and in the last year that we have figures for, the highest number of first-time buyers in over 20 years.

       “We are making progress…but we’ve got to do it in the right way, I don’t want to concrete over the countryside.

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       “I also don’t want to ride roughshod over the views of communities and their representatives. We want to build in the right places – that’s more brownfield, expanding upwards and outwards.”

       Mr Gove said the Government would “be concentrating our biggest efforts in the hearts of our cities”.

       He also wants to slash red tape on building extensions to commercial buildings and repurposing agricultural buildings, disused warehouses and barn conversions. He said the Government wanted to make it easier to convert shops and takeaways into homes.

       Ministers will spend ￡24million training up planners and another ￡13million on a “super squad” to unlock specific projects. They will also make it easier to extend homes, convert lofts and renovate new buildings.

       Senior Tory MP Sir John Redwood said ministers should concentrate on fixing the mortgage market and reducing migration in order to combat the housebuilding challenge.

       But asked about criticisms in his own party, Mr Gove said: “It will be the case that I’m sure that Conservative backbenchers and

       others once they have a chance to look at our plans will realise that this is in the national interest and that’s why we’re acting.”

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