Reports say Kwasi Kwarteng will announce plans for a number of low-tax investment zones, where planning rules and other regulations will be eased to boost development.

The chancellor is expected to include plans for the new zones in Friday’s tax-cutting “mini-budget”.

According to the Guardian, planning regulations will be relaxed in up to 12 places earmarked investment zone status. The West Midlands, the Thames estuary, the Tees Valley, West Yorkshire and Norfolk are among the places where the zones may be sited.

The Sunday Times reported the areas awarded the new status will benefit from “a reduction in planning restrictions and environmental regulations.”

Liz Truss in the summer pledged to “identify sites ripe for transformation across the country through lower taxes, reduced planning restrictions and red tape “ and said the move would create “new hubs for innovation and enterprise” in the spirit of Victorian model villages such as Bournville in Birmingham and Saltaire, in Yorkshire.

According to reports, the zones would have areas focused on commercial, residential or industrial development and a streamlined residential planning process on the periphery.

What form the reduced planning regulation would take is unclear, but the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill currently going through parliament could be amend rather than fresh legislation tabled to change planning law.