Boris Johnson seeks to appease Tory MPs over fears 'mutant' housing algorithm will ruin the countryside

Boris Johnson has pledged "to avoid desecrating our beautiful countryside" by relaxing planning rules to ensure the construction of more new homes, despite concerns from his own backbench MPs.

Conservative MPs are furious that tweaks to the planning rules by a new "mutant" algorithm will lead to a "disastrous urbanisation of the suburbs" and building on beauty spots in the south of England.

At Prime Minister's Questions, former minister Harriet Baldwin urged Mr Johnson to change the formula – which will have been consulted on by the Government until October 1 – because it appeared to have "overshot in terms of numbers, and the investment is concreting down rather than levelling up".

Mr Johnson replied: "We are going to ensure that we have a planning system that is fit for purpose, that allows us to give young people the chance of home ownership, which millions of people are shut out from.

"That is what we can do – and we think we can do it in such a way to avoid desecrating our beautiful countryside, and avoid desecrating our green belt."

However, new research from the CPRE countryside charity (formerly known as the Campaign to Protect Rural England) has found that the controversial algorithm will lead to a 178 per cent increase in new homes in the Lake District, when compared with the current formula for new homes.

Other increases included a 933 per cent increase in new homes in rural Richmondshire, north Yorkshire, and a 97 per cent hike in housing targets in Scarborough.

There will be building level falls in major cities such as Birmingham, down 15 per cent, and Manchester, where new homes will fall by 37 per cent.

Crispin Truman, the CPRE's chief executive, said: "The Government’s far-reaching and untested changes to local planning could lead to the worst of all possible worlds – gobbling up our countryside without delivering the affordable homes our rural communities are crying out for."

Separately all new homes in England will have to meet space standards, starting with 37 square meters of floorspace for a new one bed flat with a shower room, the Government said.

Robert Jenrick, the Housing Secretary, said: "The pandemic has further highlighted the importance of having somewhere secure and comfortable to live.

"While most developers deliver good homes and do the right thing, I’m tackling the minority of developers abusing the system by announcing that new homes delivered will have to meet space standards.”

Mr Jenrick also said Peter Freeman, who oversaw the regeneration of the area around King's Cross station in London, has been appointed to chair Homes England quango, which will work to develop innovation construction methods.