It is difficult to see how the Government will achieve its target of 300,000 new homes per year by the mid-2020s in England if mandatory local housing targets are dropped, says the cross-party Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (LUHC) Committee in a new report.
The report, which examines the Government’s planning reform proposals, finds that the Government has not provided sufficient evidence to demonstrate how the policy of scrapping mandatory local housing targets will directly lead to more housebuilding.
While the Government is on track to deliver 1 million new homes over the course of this Parliament, it is not forecast to deliver 300,000 net new homes per year by the mid-2020s.
In December 2022, the Government announced proposals to move to advisory rather than mandatory housing targets for local plans.
The LUHC Committee’s Reforms to national planning policy report is critical of the stop-start reform on national planning policy over several years, which it says has caused uncertainty for local authorities and planners, delayed local plans, and slowed new house building.
Clive Betts, Chair of the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (LUHC) Committee, said: “We have a national shortage of housing in England and there’s evidence the Government’s latest shake-up of planning rules is already having a damaging impact on efforts to increase the building of new homes.
“People are facing rising housing costs. Housing affordability is a major issue. For our economy and for communities across the country, it’s crucial the Government takes urgent action to encourage the building of more homes. Without urgent action, the Government will fail achieve its national housing target of building 300,000 net new homes per year by the mid-2020s.
“Planning consultants say annual housebuilding will go down to around 150,000 a year under the Government’s proposed policy reforms. The prospect of a major hit to the building of new homes resulting from the Government’s planning rule changes is deeply concerning, especially for people wanting to get on the housing ladder, families eager to move home, and communities crying out for affordable places to live.”
The report asserts the importance of ensuring affordable housing forms a substantial proportion of the 300,000 new homes delivered each year. The report calls on the Government to give greater importance in planning for Social Rent homes and for the 300,000 objective to include a target for 90,000 Social Rent homes per year.
The report highlights the significant resource challenges faced by local council planning departments and criticises the Government’s failure to set out a comprehensive resources and skills strategy for the planning sector.
The standard method of calculating housing need is not fit for purpose, the report finds. The report highlights that the standard method is based on 2014-based housing projections, that it focusses on housebuilding in areas where economic activity is already high, and that it includes an arbitrary 35% uplift for urban centres. The Committee calls on the Government to adopt a revised standard method which take accounts of future local need, encourages regeneration across the country, and applies fairly to all local authorities.
Cllr Darren Rodwell, housing spokesperson for the Local Government Association, said: “Councils are committed to working with government and developers to build the housing the country needs, with land for more than 2.6 million homes allocated in Local Plans and nine in 10 planning applications being approved
“As this report highlights, local council planning departments face significant challenges in recruitment and retention and we need a comprehensive planning skills strategy to address this, which should be urgently brought forward.
“We also have significant concerns that the proposed Infrastructure Levy will result in fewer, not more, affordable homes delivered, will expose councils to excessive levels of financial risks, and be increasingly burdensome and complex for local authorities to implement and manage.
“National, top-down algorithms and formulas can never be a substitute for local knowledge and decision-making by those who know their areas best. We have been clear that councils and communities are best placed to decide how to build the right homes in the right places in their local areas, with the right infrastructure.”
