Cllr Sir Steve Houghton CBE, Leader of Barnsley Council, said: “We have ambitious targets to create more and better jobs for our residents and to grow our economy. This means we must also create new, warm, sustainable homes for our residents in the future.

“The announcement regarding house building targets doesn’t change anything compared with the existing situation. 

“These reports merely relate to the content of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, and until it becomes an Act of Parliament, it has no bearing on how things work. Even if it is enacted, it is likely that secondary legislation will be needed to set out how things will work in practice. 

“It will therefore be quite a long time before we are able to say what the impacts of any changes are at a local level.”