Neighbourhood plans allow people to decide the future development of their area, including where new homes and businesses should be built, what they should look like and what local infrastructure is needed.
So far more than 100 areas have voted yes in neighbourhood planning referendums, with more than 8 million people living in areas involved in neighbourhood planning.
And government figures show that plans for housebuilding are more than 10% higher in the first areas with a neighbourhood plan as opposed to only the council’s local plan.
The National House Building Council says the number of new homes being registered with it so far this year is 9% higher than a year ago.
Brandon Lewis said:
"This government is continuing the huge shift of power from Whitehall to the town hall and to local people. More than 8 million people now live in areas that have had or will have their say on planning in their neighbourhood, and more areas are coming forward every day.
"We are scrapping the broken old planning system that pitted neighbours and developers against each other, and cornered people into opposing any development in their back yard. The 100 neighbourhood planning referendums show how our approach of getting the whole community working together is paying off, and breaking through local opposition."
Last month David Cameron announced plans to make all new affordable homes built by property developers available to buy.
The government's 'affordable housing' programme will now include Starter Homes as well as properties for rent, and old rules requiring developers to provide a certain amount of affordable housing for rental purposes will be scrapped.
In May, the government announced plans to deliver 200,000 Starter Homes by the end of the decade, to be sold to first-time buyers under the age of 40 at 20% discount off the market price.
Cameron has pledged a revolution "from generation rent to generation buy" in a bid to accelerate the building of discounted properties for first-time buyers and incentivise developers to build Starter Homes rather than rental properties.
