Housing minister Yvette Cooper has set out reforms to the planning system which will help local authorities deliver more and better homes - including more affordable and family homes.

The guidance tells councils to set out local policies that address not only the requirement for affordable housing, but also the need for other types and size of homes.

Councils will need to plan their housing strategies much further ahead and identify suitable sites more quickly to prevent much-needed houses being held up by unnecessary delays in the planning system, warned Cooper.

Local authorities will need to make sure they are getting the mix of homes right and meeting the needs of all of their community. Specifically, councils will need to ensure there are enough family homes and, for the first time, ensure that the housing needs of children are being met, with an emphasis being placed on family-friendly developments including access to gardens, play areas and parks.

House builders broadly welcome the new planning policy (PPS3) but warn existing failings in the planning system, including deliberate delaying tactics by local authorities, will need to be addressed before the policies will be able to work.

Philip Davies, chief executive of Linden Homes commented: “If house builders are to meet government targets for 200,000 new homes per year in London and the South East by 2016, it is essential that the government makes the ideology of PPS3 happen.”

“It needs to be successful in tackling nimbyism within local authorities, removing red tape and speeding up the time it takes for planning permission to be granted.”

“I hope the government has created a workable framework in which house builders can deliver more homes with a greater focus on family housing, rather than a vision which cannot become reality.”

David Bexon, managing director of SmartNewHomes.com also welcomed the plans to address the chronic shortage of family homes.

“However, unless suitable sites are identified more quickly for development it will be many years before the real effect of these changes will impact on the market,” he said.

Mr Bexon added: ““It is now vital that government implements the necessary framework to support developers in achieving these new requirements.”

“Government must listen to developers and encourage a closer and more flexible relationship with local authorities to ensure workable solutions that deliver land to build the right mix of housing in the right areas.”