WYCHAVON Liberal Democrats have questioned the Labour government’s decision to increase housing targets for the area as more sites are left unfinished, developers have gone bankrupt, and infrastructure remains elusive.
The government released their proposals to reform the National Planning Policy Framework and the targets given to councils on how many houses they must build on Tuesday 30th July.
The proposal includes increasing the number of houses built in the Wychavon district to almost 1000 a year.
This is on top of the 28,400 already planned for up to 2030 in the current development plan (SWDP), the majority of which have already been built.
Meanwhile, several housing developments have stalled. In the Pershore area alone concerns have been raised after houses have been left half built, some completed homes have been unsold and several sites are incomplete with roads and pavements dangerous. Investigations by Liberal Democrat councillors have revealed the situation is critical with developers going into administration, leaving residents in limbo with their estates left incomplete.
Group leader for Wychavon Liberal Democrats Dan Boatright-Greene says: “The whole housing situation is a mess. We have thousands of residents struggling to find affordable rents and mortgages.
“Social housing not keeping pace with need. Yet hundreds of houses have been built. The sites focused on social and affordable housing, however, have stalled and we now have sites with half-finished buildings.”
“We are stuck between a rock and a hard place, with housing not being built for local need.
“Week after week I have residents getting in contact because they cannot afford to live here. But any attempt to build homes for residents results in the estate becoming unviable.
“The Government needs to stop spending time setting targets with no understanding of the local situation and needs to give councils the powers to build their own social homes again. Otherwise this chaos is just going to continue.”
Regarding Labour’s planning policy changes, housing minister Angela Rayner said they were not about ‘riding roughshod over local decisions and what local people want’.
The deputy prime minister added: “To deliver all of this we need every local authority to have a development plan in place.
“Up-to-date local plans are essential to ensuring communities have a say in how development happens.
“Areas with a local plan are less vulnerable to speculative developments through appeals.
“And yet just a third of places have one under five years old.
“This must change. “
