BORIS Johnson will unleash a series of controversial planning reforms in the early new year, in a bid to turbocharge home building.

The rapid assault, expected as early as January, was revealed by the PM’s most senior adviser Dominic Cummings in a briefing to all ministerial aides in No10 on Tuesday night.

Boris Johnson is planning housing reforms in the new year Credit: AFP or licensors

Boris Johnson's series of reforms is aimed at solving Britain's housing shortage Credit: PA:Press Association

Mr Cummings told them the Government “must do the politically difficult things as soon as possible” while the PM’s election honeymoon lasts and Labour is still in disarray. He named the tricky subject of planning liberalisation as his key example.

One senior Tory source in the room said: “Dom made the point that every time a review is done, planning always comes up as a big drag on productivity, but nobody ever does anything about it. But we are going to do something about it.”

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick and Chancellor Sajid Javid have been quietly preparing a major overhaul of the system that gives permission to build to liberate up significant new space.

But there was scant mention of planning reform in the Tories’ election manifesto for fear of upsetting floating voters in key target seats.

Top of the list of major changes to the law is allowing developers and homeowners to build upwards, adding up to two extra storeys on homes and blocks of flats without necessarily needing approval.

Britain’s cities have one of the lowest average heights of housing in the Western world, and that building upwards will create a huge amount of living space immediately.

BITTER PROTEST

But the move will also prove controversial as applications face bitter protest from nearby residents over the loss of natural light to their properties.

Other planning reforms that ministers want to do include building on greenbelt areas where there are already developments, such as around railway stations.

A new system of rebates to rapidly speed up the green light to build from councils is also being plotted.

Under it, applicants will get their fees repaid in full if local authorities don’t meet tight deadlines.

Dominic Cummings, the PM's senior adviser, thinks the Government 'must do the politically difficult things as soon as possible' Credit: Reuters

The ministers also want to scrap a regulation that forces builders to apply for permission if they want to demolish a commercial property and replace it with homes.

Many of the new policies were proposed by Mr Javid when he was Communities Secretary but blocked by the then PM Theresa May, who feared upsetting Nimbys.

The substantial overhaul is designed to deliver on independent estimates that Britain must build 300,000 new homes a year to solve the nation’s housing shortage.

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