Michael Gove has used an editorial in a national Sunday newspaper to promise to “take on” the “vested interest” of major developers, while insisting his government’s ambition to increase housebuilding to 300,000 homes a year remains “undimmed”.

In an article in the Mail on Sunday, the housing secretary said five principles - beauty, infrastructure, democratic control, environmental enhancement and neighbourhood protection – were at the heart of the planning reforms announced last week, which would ensure that local authorities with up to date plans were protected from speculative development.

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