there s strong local opposition to a plan to build 11,500 new homes. we re potentially tearing up valuable farmland and growth space to fill it with concrete. now, to me, that isn t the right way to go. others, like student sheldon, who is also a labour activist, they are building more is their only hope of owning a home. unless i m prepared to move sort of 100 miles north of here then it s really unlikely i ll be able to get on the housing ladder, particularly because of the prices. here in reading and london are just so expensive. to meet its commitment to build 300,000 new homes a year, the government wanted mandatory targets for local authorities. but dozens of conservative mps objected, and tonight ministers said that targets would be a starting point. what we ve always wanted to do, which is to have a reform of the planning system, can now be enacted with colleagues who have looked at the detail, helped us to refine and to improve