What exactly are the government’s controversial planning reforms?

Policy Correspondent Jon Stone looks at the details of the goverment’s proposals

The reforms would abolish the need for planning permission across large swathes of the country (Getty/iStock)

A backlash against the government’s planning reforms has been blamed for a shock Conservative defeat at the Chesham and Amersham by-election.

Ministers claim the changes are necessary to build more homes, but critics say they’ll make no difference or make it harder to object to bad developments.

The reforms, suggested in a government white paper called Planning For the Future, are complicated and there are a number of different facets to them. They are yet to be turned into formal legislation.