New planning rules will make it easier for councils to challenge poor quality and unattractive development – and give communities a greater voice about local development, says the government.

Building attractive and better-designed homes in areas where they are needed is at the centre of new planning rules published by Secretary of State Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP on Tuesday ( 24 July).

The revised National Planning Policy Framework follows a public consultation launched earlier this year so planners, developers and councils can build more homes, more quickly where people want to live.

The new rule book will focus on:

• promoting high quality design of new homes and places
• stronger protection for the environment
• building the right number of homes in the right places
• greater responsibility and accountability for housing delivery from councils and developers

Communities secretary James Brokenshire said: "Fundamental to building the homes our country needs is ensuring that our planning system is fit for the future.

"This revised planning framework sets out our vision of a planning system that delivers the homes we need. I am clear that quantity must never compromise the quality of what is built, and this is reflected in the new rules.

"We have listened to the tens of thousands of people who told us their views, making this a shared strategy for development in England."

Mr Brokenshire said ministers had been clear on their ambition to achieve 300,000 new homes a year by the mid-2020s, which follows 217,000 homes built last year.

The government says this is the biggest increase in housing supply in England for almost a decade.

The new rules will see 85 of the proposals set out in the housing white paper and the Budget, implemented in the new National Planning Policy Framework.