The Royal Town Planning Institute has backed government plans to bypass the planning system for some affordable housing schemes in rural areas.

The RTPI said it backed the plan by government department Communities and Local Government to consult on proposals to allow a limited number of affordable housing to be built in rural villages.

The villages would need to be less than 3,000 people for the schemes to be developed without an individual planning application, subject to the backing of the parish council and the involvement of a registered social landlord as development partner.

However, the plan may not survive if the Conservatives win power at the general election on 6 May.

Matt Thomson, acting director of policy at RTPI said: “The lack of affordable housing in rural areas to meet local needs is a pressing issue that becomes more urgent with each passing year. Imaginative solutions that go further than existing planning policies such as ‘rural exceptions’ schemes are needed, and the RTPI welcomes the government’s enthusiasm to address the issue.”

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