Planning reform proposals announced by government have been welcomed by the leader of Southampton City Council – while the city’s housing target is expected to drop.

Housing secretary Angela Rayner detailed major changes to the planning system this week, with the aim that 1.5 million new homes will be built over the next five years.

The proposals include reintroducing mandatory housing targets for councils across England just seven months after they were scrapped by the former Conservative government.

The overall target for England would increase from 300,000 to 370,000 homes a year, with a new method used to formulate each area’s figure.

Before they were scrapped in December, Southampton had a target of 1,473 a year. This included a 35 per cent uplift from the standard method as it was one of the 20 largest cities and urban centres in the country.

The method unveiled by Ms Rayner would produce a target of 1,295 additional homes a year in Southampton.

From 2020/21 to 2022/23, Southampton saw an average of 438 net additional homes per year.

Neighbouring authorities in Eastleigh and the New Forest are facing a 40 per cent and 100 per cent increase, respectively, to their housing delivery targets.

Other proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework and planning system include that land released from the green belt will have to meet the government’s ‘golden rules’.

The Labour leader of Southampton City Council, Cllr Lorna Fielker, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “We know we need new homes of every tenure in Southampton, changes which help get these delivered are welcome.”

Cllr Fielker said construction to build new homes nationally was down nearly 40 per cent in the first three months of the year compared with the year before.

She said the council was keen to work with the Labour government to meet Southampton’s “high need” for housing.

Conservative group leader Cllr Peter Baillie said several years ago the local Labour group suggested 1,600 new homes a year were needed across the city.

Cllr Baillie said: “A couple of weeks ago at full council, the leader of the council was unable to say what new housing she would prioritise. Thus the result will be that over the coming years, Southampton will not get the housing it needs.

“Any new housing must be built with local agreement. Just because nationally and locally Labour have big majorities that doesn’t mean that democratic principles should be diminished. Sadly that seems to be the path Labour intend to take which is the path often used by dictatorships.”