Government planning reforms should be amended to tackle anxieties about inappropriate and unsustainable development, a panel of MPs has urged.

A report issued today by the Commons communities and local government committee found developers are exploiting loopholes in the National Planning Policy Framework to launch ‘speculative' planning applications, which foist unwanted developments which run counter to the wishes of local communities.

The Committee heard evidence that developers claimed sites were unviable in order to secure planning permission in other, more lucrative sites against the wishes of the council and community – effectively undermining and delaying the planning process.