Increases in land value that result from public policy decisions should be shared with councils instead of ending up in the pockets of private developers, MPs have said.

Government statistics show that agricultural land that is granted planning permission for residential use increases in value on average from £21,000 per hectare to £1.95m per hectare.

A report from the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee concluded that councils and Government should be able to capture a ‘significant proportion' of that uplift to invest in new infrastructure and public services.

Committee chair Clive Betts said: ‘As these increases are significantly created by the actions of the state, it is right that a significant proportion of this should be shared with the local community.'