Bradley has questioned the Housing Minister on the Government’s decision to impose an 82% increase in Bromsgrove’s mandatory housing target.
He asked the question in the House of Commons yesterday (December 9th) following a TV interview at the weekend in which the Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner, said there ‘is plenty of housing’ in the UK.
Bradley has previously written to the Deputy Prime Minister, who is also the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, to formally respond to the Government’s consultation on the changes to the National Planning Policy Framework.
He has previously branded the new mandatory housing targets imposed on local councils as “aggressive.” If imposed on Bromsgrove, the new housing target means Bromsgrove District Council will have to build 704 houses a year - an extra 318 houses a year as a result of the Government’s top-down target.
And with 89% of land in the District designated as green belt, Bradley is warning new housing developments will come almost exclusively at the expense of the green belt.
Bradley said:
“In a TV interview at the weekend, the Deputy Prime Minister said there 'is plenty of housing' in our country. Why then is this Government imposing an 82% increase in Bromsgrove's housing target?
“While as a country we do need to build more houses, house building must be with the consent of local people and be approved by democratically elected local councillors. Imposing mandatory targets on us will do nothing to improve public trust in the planning system.
“New housing developments also can’t come at the expense of our green belt. 89% of land in Bromsgrove is designated as green belt, and the aggressive target being imposed on us by the Government will directly result in thousands more homes being built in high quality green belt in our constituency, when there is not a sufficient local need for this to happen.
“An increase to our mandatory housing target would be understandable if the formula reflected the local housing market in Bromsgrove, however it is completely flawed.
“I want affordable homes for my constituents, especially for first time buyers, but the Government’s proposed affordability calculations fails to accurately measure local housing demand, creating an incorrect housing need figure.
“How is it right that the Government is reducing housing targets for cities like London and Birmingham, where the need is most acute, and forcing areas like ours to build thousands of homes on green belt? It’s wrong and I will continue to fight to protect our green belt.”
