An increase of 28% for East Devon.
“Will local decisions be overridden under the new proposals?”
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English councils have been told their mandatory housing targets will change – but how much will that mean for East Devon?
NEW NATIONAL HOUSING TARGETS:
This week the government announced its planning overhaul to reach 1.5 million new homes, “an overhaul of the planning system to accelerate housebuilding and deliver 1.5 million homes over this Parliament”.
On the one hand, it’s not enough, as the government will miss its five-year homes target by 388,000 if it relies on private housebuilding – that is, in the “five key takeaways”, the| Centre for Cities warns that “this incremental approach would only make it relatively easier to build on greenfield sites”.
The government feels these planning reforms will end development chaos, with the deputy PM saying that “because we haven’t had these compulsory local plans, we’ve seen speculative development where greenbelt land has been developed on… we’ve told councils they’ve got to have those plans. If developers follow the national framework, which protects the environment and looks at other elements, then they shouldn’t be stuck in the system for years.”
However, apart from the developers, not many others have been very supportive.
There is the repeat of the debates over newts and planning from back in 2020 when the then-PM claimed that “newt-counting” was slowing down housebuilding – with the current deputy PM saying we should prioritise people’s needs ‘over newts’ in housing policy.
There is concern about making sure any development is actually ‘sustainable’ – with Chief Executive Mark Lloyd of the Rivers Trust stressing the need for “balanced land use”: “Housing is vital, but so too are the waterways, green spaces, and natural ecosystems that sustain us and nature. As the Government updates the National Planning Policy Framework, we must prioritise climate-ready plans that support nature alongside development.”
And there is the backlash from councils over the housing targets, with them telling the government its flagship plan to build 1.5m new homes in England over the next five years is “unrealistic” and “impossible to achieve”, according to investigative reporting from the BBC:
Many councils accept the need for more new homes – but they are concerned about whether the targets handed to each of the 317 authorities in England are realistic or achievable. The concerns are shared by Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat authorities, according to BBC analysis of 90% of the consultation responses. Many fear the algorithm used to calculate the targets has not taken into account strains on local infrastructure, land shortages, and a lack of capacity in the planning system and construction industry.
South Tyneside, a Labour-run council, said the plans were “wholly unrealistic”, while the independent-run council in Central Bedfordshire, said the area would be left “absolutely swamped with growth that the infrastructure just can not support”. In some cases, the housing targets are radically different to those set by the previous government, with rural areas expected to shoulder more of the burden than inner city authorities. Some parts of London have seen their targets go down.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “This is the worst housing crisis in living memory, and in order to fix this we need to build 1.5 million homes. That’s why we have introduced mandatory housing targets for councils and laid out clear plans to support their delivery, including by changing planning rules to allow homes to be built on grey belt land and recruiting 300 additional planning officers.”
HOUSING TARGETS FOR EAST DEVON:
If we look at the new proposed mandatory housing targets for the East Devon district, we see an increase of 28% – going from 893 5o 1146 units per year.
Nationally, with the these mandatory housebuilding targets confirmed, concerns have once again been voiced about “setting arbitrary or at best formulaic targets”, “mutant algorithms”, “developers continuing to game the system” and the lack of social housing targets and the necessary infrastructure.
These same points have been raised in the Sid Valley over the last weeks, with questions over proposals for a new cycle path and housing for Sidbury and the Sidmouth housing allocations and its inadequate infrastructure.
In the summer, MPs were already questioning the new local housing targets in Devon, with Sidmouth’s MP concerned about housing expansion and Mid Devon’s MP feeling we need to build houses – but we can’t just build anywhere.
Of course it is clear to most that we need more housing to be built in Devon and in the Sid Valley, but it won’t be easy: councils are struggling to provide the right sort of local, social housing; it’s going to be difficult to make sure new homes are also net-zero; and are we going to be able to build ‘affordable homes at the scale required’.
A year ago, the district council contacted its MPs asking them to press the government to review East Devon’s housing target: “East Devon District Council is calling on you to press the government to find a more positive approach to solving the housing crisis and a move away from algorithms that pay no regard to the consequences of new housing numbers on the environment and the communities affected by growth.”
And back in December 2022, the council issued a press release asking for wider public engagement, asking: Will the new East Devon Local Plan help meet your housing need?. As the head of planning at the council said, questioning his own East Devon Local Plan and its housing target: “The government enforces arbitrary housing numbers that district & unitary councils must follow otherwise we lose planning powers. This opens the door for even less sustainable development.”
But will this help East Devon? After all, in protest, councillors put the East Devon local plan on hold. as “concerns about the impacts the new developments would have on the environment and infrastructure such as roads, schools and hospitals were raised in the ten-week East Devon Local Plan consultation.” [As also expressed in the VGS submission to the East Devon Local Plan consultation 2023]
Finally, back in the present, with things happening elsewhere in the district, it isn’t yet clear what exactly will be expected from the Sid Valley. Only yesterday it was announced that Budleigh Salterton has been spared extra homes because the proposed housing would have been built on the National Landscape.
Will such local decisions be overridden by the Housing Inspector under the new proposals?
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