Michael Gove, the secretary of state for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, has intervened in two further planning applications on design grounds according to documents seen by Housing Today.

Following Gove’s attempt to block a 165-home Berkeley Homes scheme in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, on the grounds that the design was “generic” – a controversial decision he looks set to rethink – the secretary of state is set to make decisions on housing developments in Leamington Spa and Cheshire. 

According to a letter shown to Housing Today, Gove has “called in” a planning application by Delta Planning on behalf of AC Lloyd Homes for a residential development of 200 dwellings on the south side of Chesterton Drive, Whitnash, Leamington Spa. Such a move normally only happens if the application conflicts with national policy or is nationally significant.