Developers' organisations have welcomed the Draft National Planning Policy Framework which they believe will deliver growth in building.
British Property Federation chief executive Liz Peace said planning policy needed to be streamlined, succinct and to the point if it is to deliver growth.
"We understand that the new Draft Framework follows closely the version submitted by the Practitioners Advisory Group which fully incorporated these principles," she said.
"On that basis we will have no problem in giving today's Framework our ringing endorsement."
Major Developers' Group chair Sir Stuart Lipton said it was delighted with the Framework's proposals.
"We have for years suggested that the planning system, with its accumulation of layers of directives and strategies needed radical reform," he said.
"We support the strategies of the Framework which we feel will provide a more effective planning system. It will have regard for a balance of the interests of the community, the environment and the growth agenda."
The Home Builders' Federation said the Draft would be a basis for a more pro-growth planning system and deliver more houses.
"The emphasis in the NPPF on achieving an improved housing supply is positive," said executive chairman Stewart Baseley.
"But how local authorities implement the policy remains critical and will require a change of culture across the board if it is to be transformational. The nation's housing shortage dictates that if local authorities are not implementing this document properly, central government will have to strengthen the guidance ever further. This is the most important planning document since the Town and Country Planning Act 1947 - it is vital we get it right."
The Federation warned that how local authorities interpret the definition of sustainable development and they should prioritize housing provision.
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors also welcomed the Draft as a significant step forward in unlocking the planning system to deliver the growth required by UK plc.
"We are pleased to see this concise outline of national planning policy at a strategic level rather than the thousands of pages of guidance that currently lose the thrust of what the Government is trying to achieve," said head of external affairs Stephen Thornton.
