Opening of Parliament heralds planning and rental reforms

"I understand that regional mayors may soon be given the power to ban properties from being used as short-term lets," writes James Forsyth, political editor of The Spectator, in The Times.

Last year's "radical" Planning Bill is long gone, replaced with watered-down reforms that promise local referenda on planning decisions and a few other tweaks.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has lambasted the Government's "once in a generation" planning reforms, calling proposals "a retrograde step" for housebuilding in the capital and "a serious weakening of local…