Robert Jenrick has urged ministers to press ahead with contentious reforms to the planning system, saying they would regret scrapping them in years to come.

The former housing secretary, in an interview for a BBC podcast, said the government will not achieve its levelling up objectives to improve the cost of living “unless it takes housing seriously”

He said: “Young people are spending between 30% and 50% of their income on rent, so you’ve got to increase the supply of homes and the planning system is the obvious supply side reform that’s out there.