Victor da Cunha, Chief Executive of housing association and housebuilder Curo, has responded to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill plans revealed in the King’s Speech.

The Government has said that it wants to make major reforms to the planning system to build 1.5 million homes and kickstart economic growth. The Bill will make changes to the planning system which aim to make it easier to build housing and create new infrastructure.

Speaking to BBC Points West, Victor said: “This is great news because we have just built our 1,000th Curo home. It's also great news for this country. We've got 1.29 million people waiting to be housed on council registers and 5,500 people on the register in Bath & North East Somerset. This is good news for them and for our economy. Build houses, build our economy.”

Asked if the sector could deliver the homes needed without building on green-belt land, Victor said: “I think people are focusing on the Government’s request to local authorities to look at ‘grey-belt’ land, for example, old garage sites. But the important thing is that we develop on existing brownfield sites first. That's not to say that we shouldn't develop poor-quality grey-belt land too.”