"IT'S a really big win," Isle of Wight MP Bob Seely has said about changes to the government's housing and planning agenda.

Mr Seely said “well over 100 Tory MPs” had supported the changes, which would make the agenda “more conservative than the one we currently have”.

He said: “The new language we’ve agreed will work with communities, speaking to the character of areas and celebrating the beauty of good design.

"It understands the need for farmland, will significantly emphasise brownfield over greenfield development and will help deliver homes for young people.”

Mr Seely rejected accusations the Conservative Party has nothing to offer to young people, saying: “This is going to be much better for younger people.

“In places like the Isle of Wight, or places like the tip of Cornwall or Cumbria, this is really going to help young people because we can say you can dramatically increase your targets for local affordable housing, and that’s specifically for younger people.

“So, this is actually a really big win. If you’re a developer and you want to sit on property for years and years, this is not good news for you.

"But if you’re a council that wants to get on and build and if you’re a community that wants to control more of its destiny, this is good news.

“This is good news for everybody.”

The climbdown over housing targets in the face of a mass revolt by Tory MPs made the government look “strong”, housing secretary Michael Gove claimed.

The watered down local housebuilding targets avoided the first major Commons rebellion of Rishi Sunak’s premiership.

Labour accused the Prime Minister of being “weak” but Mr Gove insisted the government was delivering on the promised reforms to the planning system to make sure new homes were built.

“I think it makes the government look strong because we are delivering on the planning reform that we promised a year ago,” he told the BBC.

In a letter to MPs on Monday, Mr Gove said the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill would be amended to abolish local mandatory housebuilding targets.

The Bill is expected to return to the Commons next week for day two of its report stage.

The decision represents a victory for a group of Tory backbenchers led by Conservative former cabinet minister Theresa Villiers and Conservative MP Mr Seely, who had proposed a series of amendments.

Supporters of the proposal said this would protect the environment and ensure communities were not forced to accept unwelcome development.

But some Conservatives were critical, with 2019 Tory manifesto co-author Robert Colville saying it would “enshrine nimbyism as the governing principle of British society”.

Other changes agreed to by Mr Gove include charging a higher infrastructure levy on greenfield development, taking action to prevent land banking, and ending the “duty to cooperate” which sees rural and suburban areas required to help meet the housing need of neighbouring cities.

The government has also promised to consult on requiring planning permission before residential property can be let out on websites such as Airbnb.