The government has launched the biggest rewrite of planning rules in more than a decade aiming to unlock hundreds of thousands of new homes and hit its target of 1.5 million over this Parliament.

At the heart of the overhaul is a clear shift in tone.

The system moves from blocking development to backing it with a default yes for well-designed homes around railway stations and in town and city centres.

Ministers say the reforms will make planning clearer faster and more predictable especially for SME builders who have been squeezed out by complexity and cost.

Higher density housing will be actively encouraged with new rules supporting apartments flats and building upwards where it makes sense.

A new medium site category covering schemes of 10 to 49 homes will give smaller builders proportionate requirements including possible relief from the Building Safety Levy.

Energy efficiency and Biodiversity Net Gain rules will be streamlined to give developers certainty while still requiring new homes to be greener and more nature-friendly including features such as swift bricks.

The changes are designed to override conflicting local policies from day one creating a single national rulebook. Ministers say rail and densification policies alone could unlock up to 1.8 million homes over coming years.

Housing Secretary Steve Reed said: “We see a planning system that still isn’t working well enough. A system saying ‘no’ more often than it says ‘yes’ and that favours obstructing instead of building.”

He added: “We owe it to the people of this country to do everything within our power to build the homes they deserve.”

Chancellor Rachel Reeves framed the reforms as economic as much as social. “For too long our economy has been held back by a housing system that slows growth frustrates business and prices the next generation out of a secure home,” she said.

Alongside the rule changes ministers are backing delivery with cash and capacity. Funding includes £5 million to scale up the Small Sites Aggregator £8 million to clear planning backlogs and £48 million to recruit more planners.

Standardised house designs will be developed to support modern methods of construction giving manufacturers confidence to invest in factories and skills.

Biodiversity Net Gain will remain but with an area-based exemption for the smallest sites and faster cheaper routes for offsite delivery particularly on brownfield land.

The reforms build on last year’s NPPF overhaul which the OBR said would drive the highest housebuilding levels in more than 40 years.

This time the message is simpler. Build near transport build higher build better and build faster.