PRIME Minister David Cameron made a whistle stop visit to a housing development under construction in south Devon on Monday, to hammer home the message to councils that they must deliver Local Plans for new homes by 2017.

He warned that if they did not deliver, the Government would do it for them.

Mr Cameron made the surprise visit to the site where 250 properties are being built by Linden Homes, at Kingsgate on the slopes of Penns Mount, Kingsteignton.

There the prime minister was taken on a site tour and met Andrew Richards, the Linden Homes Group managing director, company workers and Teignbridge councillors

Mr Cameron had particular praise for the district authority which has already produced its Local Plan for 12,000 homes along with shops and employment units, although not without numerous stumbling blocks along the way.

The visit coincided with the publication of the Landmark Housing and Planning Bill which the Government hopes will help its ambition of having a million homes by 2020. It is also setting measures to deliver 200,000 starter homes, offer 1.3 million tenants the right to buy and to cut red tape to boost home building.

Mr Cameron announced that councils must produce local plans for new homes in their area by 2017 – or the Govern­ment will ensure, in consultation with local people, those plans are produced for them.

In a statement he said that while 82 per cent of councils had published local plans, which should set out how many homes they plan to deliver over a set period, only 65 per cent have fully adopted them, and there are still almost 20 per cent of councils that do not have an up to date plan.

The Government says the Housing Bill is part of its pledge to deliver security, stability and opportunity to the British people. The Bill has a series of further proposals aimed at boosting home building and home ownership.

It includes: New affordable starter homes – a new legal duty will be placed on councils to guarantee the delivery of starter homes on all reasonably sized new development sites, and to promote the scheme to first time buyers in their area. Local authorities will be able to bid for a share of a £10m Starter Homes Fund – part of a £36m package to accelerate the delivery.

There will be automatic planning permission in principle on brownfield sites – to build as many homes as possible while protecting the green belt – as well as reforms to support small builders, and placing a duty on councils to help allocate land to people who want to build their own home.

Mr Cameron announc­ed that a temporary rule introduced in May 2013 allowing people to convert disused offices into homes without applying for planning permission, would be made permanent.

‘A greater Britain must mean more families having the security and stability of owning a home of their own.

‘My Govern­ment will do everything it can to help people buy a place of their own – at the heart of this is our ambition to build one million new homes by 2020.

‘Many areas are doing this already – and this is great – but we need a national crusade to get homes built and everyone must play their part,’ he stated.

Nigel Palmer, managing director for Linden Homes South West, said his company supported the principle of the starter homes initiative and welcomed the Govern­ment’s intention to support first-time buyers.

‘Starter homes will complement other schemes the Government has introduced, such as Help to Buy.

‘The main barrier for aspirational home buyers is financial constraint and schemes such as these are infinitely key in enabling them to get onto the housing ladder,’ he said.