Decentralisation minister Greg Clark has today unveiled plans to end the practice of garden grabbing and scrap minimum housing density targets.

Clark has today announced plans to take gardens out of the “brownfield” planning designation and allow local authorities to decide how many new homes should be concentrated in their area.

On Monday, planners warned that this widely anticipated pair of decisions would lead to more attempts to build on green belt land.

Clark said: “For years the wishes of local people have been ignored as the character of neighbourhoods and gardens have been destroyed, robbing communities of vital green space.

“Today I am changing the classification of garden land so councils and communities no longer have their decisions constantly overruled, but have the power to work with industry to shape future development that is appropriate for their area.

“This is just the start of wholesale reform I want to make to the planning system, so councils and communities are centre-stage in a reformed system that works for them, and is not just a tool of top-down policy.”

“It is ridiculous that gardens have until now been classified in the same group as derelict factories and disused railway sidings, forcing councils and communities to sit by and watch their neighbourhoods get swallowed up in a concrete jungle.”

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