Wolverhampton Council on collision course with Government over 'very challenging' housing targets

A report to be discussed by the council’s cabinet on October 16 says the authority is missing its own targets and would be significantly short of the higher numbers being demanded by the new Labour administration in Westminster.

Currently, Wolverhampton Council aims to build 1,096 new dwellings each year but since 2014 has averaged 754 a year.

Targets outlined by the Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner, look for a 12 per cent increase in the number of new homes in Wolverhampton to 1,227 per year.

In a response to the Government’s proposals, the council said: “There appears to be excessive emphasis on the quantity of housing supply, at the expense of quality and appropriate locations.”

The Government told councils it is willing to accept local plans that can get within 200 homes of the new target but Wolverhampton Council has concluded it is ‘inconceivable’ that it could achieve that level of construction.

The Government believes one solution is the release of green belt land or reclassification of some green space to a new ‘grey belt’ to create more areas for development.

Wolverhampton Council’s administrative area includes just 11 per cent of green belt and the council plans to tell the Government that its methods ‘fail to reflect demographic variations between areas’.

The council’s report added: “The definition of ‘grey belt’ seems to require a definition of what constitutes ‘limited contribution’ to green belt purposes, as it is difficult to envisage a ‘parcel’ or area that would make an ‘unlimited’ contribution to green belt purposes.”

The council is also concerned about a relaxation of planning rules which could encourage speculative applications and require major infrastructure improvements that would need to be publicly funded.

In its proposed response to the Government the authority said: “Whilst the objective of significantly increasing housing supply is noted, the proposed changes to the standard method results in increases in some areas, including Wolverhampton, which will be very challenging, if not impossible to achieve, given the lack of developable land (including land in the green belt).

“It is questioned whether the market would deliver homes at this rate and, combined with the other changes proposed, this would significantly increase ad hoc developments coming forward, outside of local plan allocations.

“This would reduce the ability to strategically plan and provide appropriate infrastructure to meet the needs of new development.”

The Government said the new targets are required to build another 1.5 million homes to tackle the housing crisis and grow the economy.

Angela Rayner said: “Our decisive reforms to the planning system correct the errors of the past and set us on our way to tackling the housing crisis, delivering 1.5 million homes for those who really need them.

“And something I am personally proud of, our new flexibilities for councils will boost the number of social and affordable homes, and give working families a better route to a secure home.”

The Government said it will step in where needed to drive the process forward by taking over local plans and that every council leader has “not just a professional responsibility but a moral obligation to see more homes built”.