Uttlesford and eight other Essex councils warn Government ‘targets alone will not build more homes’
Uttlesford District Council is one of nine Essex local authorities calling on the Government to support new housing targets with appropriate infrastructure.
Their joint statement is in response to proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and other changes to the national planning system.
The North Essex Councils (NEC) supports the Government’s ambition for housing growth but believes that increased targets alone will not build more homes.
The organisation calls for “significant, extra Government funding for infrastructure and affordable housing delivery and capacity support for councils”.
The local authorities note that setting a target does not reflect practical considerations, such as land availability, infrastructure provision, environmental constraints or whether developers will build at the rate required.
The NEC calls on the Government to ensure “it is not councils and communities that are punished for the development industry’s inability to deliver.”
The response also raises significant concerns over proposals to re-introduce the five-year housing land supply requirement.
It argues sensible transitional arrangements need to be in place to allow councils to “move smoothly from existing to new targets without fear of speculative development, planning by appeal and the huge damage it does to the effective use of limited public resources”.
The NEC wants immunity from the need to demonstrate a five-year supply for authorities that are “working together to plan for housing, employment and infrastructure in a sensible, strategic and sustainable way to help achieve the Government’s ambitions for growth”.
It also pushes for long-term, substantial investment and funding arrangements to support infrastructure provision, like transport, healthcare and education, to deliver and support the scale of housebuilding the new Government proposes. Labour has set a target of 1.5m homes in five years nationwide.
The councils welcome the Government’s new homes accelerator programme to speed up the delivery of stalled housing sites and suggest “widening to identify and fund shortfalls in capacity, capital infrastructure or viability gap funding” to help increase further delivery in Essex and nationally.
Cllr Chris Whitbread, chair of North Essex Councils leaders and chief executive group, said: “While we understand the Government’s ambition for growth, collectively there are practical issues in the planning system that need to be addressed which we’ve shared with the Government as a partnership, to help us deliver local ambitions and shared solutions across North Essex.
“While the current planning system pressure varies from council to council, we are all feeling the impact - the need to provide people with safe and affordable homes is more important than ever, dealing with poor quality, speculative planning applications and appeals, and a lack of funding and investment to support infrastructure delivery many of our communities need.
“We have made various recommendations with a plea for the government to work with us to make the growth this country desperately needs happen, but in the right way that is sensible, sustainable and strategic and works best for our local areas and communities.”
The other NEC members are Braintree District Council, Chelmsford City Council, Colchester City Council, Epping Forest District Council, Essex County Council, Harlow District Council, Maldon District Council and Tendring District Council.
