At the beginning of March, the government was promising a new dawn for housebuilding, with some ambitious plans.

A million homes were targeted to be built within five years, with aspirations to increase that number to 300,000 a year. Budget and post-Budget announcements heralded upwards extensions being included within permitted development rights by the summer, a consultation on the demolition of vacant commercial buildings to be replaced with residential units, and a sweeping review of planning permission was also promised.