Council reveals how government's ambitious new housing targets will affect the borough
A council says it will not have to increase its house-building targets to satisfy new government ambitions for more homes.
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Since the Labour Government was elected it has announced plans for 1.5million more homes – to tackle 'the most acute housing crisis in living memory'.
The pledge has raised questions on the impact for Shropshire – both with Shropshire Council and Telford & Wrekin Council currently going through the 'local plan' process.
Local plans set out how many homes councils intend to build over a set time period, and where.
Last week it was confirmed that the new targets will not affect Shropshire Council's plans, with planning inspectors saying the authority's local plan process is so far down the line that any further work would only lead to significant delays.
Telford & Wrekin Council is at an earlier stage in its local plan process, but questions have been raised over whether the increased government targets will impact on its own plans for housing in the borough.
The council's proposal sets out new sites for 8,820 new houses, and 134 hectares of fresh employment space.
The plan will actually include ambitions to build 20,200 homes up until 2040 – but the council has stressed that sites for the remainder of housing, making up 55 per cent of the overall target, have already been approved, or are under construction.
Reacting to the increased targets from the government Telford & Wrekin Council said it is confident its original plans would cover the extra being demanded from the government.
A spokesman for the council said: "The impact of the proposed National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) changes here in Telford and Wrekin are limited.
"We have no green belt land in the borough and although the draft NPPF changes increase the number of dwellings required per annum from 463 to 953, our draft Local Plan which was consulted on earlier this year used similar calculations to the new standard method, taking into account population growth and census data.
"As a result, our draft Local Plan calls for 1,080 dwellings per annum, allowing both for growth and our duty to co-operate with Black Country Authorities.
"With over half of these sites already granted planning permission, our draft plan requires a further 8,800 homes between 2020 and 2040, equivalent to 441 additional new homes per year."
