Planning rules that prevent homeowners from building up and out are costing the economy more than £130 billion a year, a report says.
Rishi Sunak has been urged to allow denser development in built-up areas to help people get on the housing ladder.
Sir Brandon Lewis, the former housing minister, said that the “important” research was the first analysis of its kind on lost economic growth caused by planning laws, and that the reforms were vital to the Conservative Party’s chances in the next election.
The report, by the Adam Smith Institute, a think tank, found that restrictions on height, width and density had cost the UK up to 6.1 per cent of GDP — worth about £138.5 billion.
It modelled the economic gain created