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Eric Pickles said he wanted to return power to local authorities
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has lost a court battle over his plans to scrap the last government's regional housing targets in England.
The move was ruled unlawful by the High Court.
Housing developers had asked the court to block it, arguing Mr Pickles had abused his powers.
Mr Pickles had said he wanted to return planning powers to local communities. An aide said that no appeal was planned.
The ruling means that controversial plans for building thousands of new homes in each English region could be back on - but a government source said the court ruling was only a "technicality" and would not change anything.
That is because legislation will be published next month that will deal with the issue, he suggested.
Housing developer Cala Homes (South) Ltd argued that Mr Pickles was wrongly seeking to revoke regional planning strategies through discretionary powers.
Mr Justice Sales, sitting in London, ruled that the Cala Homes argument was "well founded".
At an earlier hearing, the developer argued primary legislation should have been introduced, giving MPs the opportunity to debate an issue crucial to future planning in England.
It claimed Mr Pickles' decision "struck at the heart of parliamentary democracy".
The government argued that regional strategies were made by regional assemblies, an undemocratic tier of regional government, and this undermined directly elected local authorities.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Eric Pickles said he wanted to return power to local authorities Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has lost a court battle over his plans to scrap the last government's regional housing targets in England.
The move was ruled unlawful by the High Court.
Housing developers had asked the court to block it, arguing Mr Pickles had abused his powers.
Mr Pickles had said he wanted to return planning powers to local communities. An aide said that no appeal was planned.
The ruling means that controversial plans for building thousands of new homes in each English region could be back on - but a government source said the court ruling was only a "technicality" and would not change anything.
That is because legislation will be published next month that will deal with the issue, he suggested.
Housing developer Cala Homes (South) Ltd argued that Mr Pickles was wrongly seeking to revoke regional planning strategies through discretionary powers.
Mr Justice Sales, sitting in London, ruled that the Cala Homes argument was "well founded".
At an earlier hearing, the developer argued primary legislation should have been introduced, giving MPs the opportunity to debate an issue crucial to future planning in England.
It claimed Mr Pickles' decision "struck at the heart of parliamentary democracy".
The government argued that regional strategies were made by regional assemblies, an undemocratic tier of regional government, and this undermined directly elected local authorities.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.