Bradley has expressed his “deep concern” with the Government’s proposed changes to the planning system.
The local MP has written to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Angela Rayner, to formally respond to the Government’s consultation on the changes to the National Planning Policy Framework.
Bradley has branded the new mandatory housing targets imposed on local councils as “aggressive.” If imposed on Bromsgrove, the new housing target means the 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.
In his response to the consultation, Bradley is encouraging the Government to support smaller house builders which he says build better, more sympathetic homes which are more in tune with the wishes of the community.
His detailed response also slams the Government for failing to accurately measure local housing demand in Bromsgrove, creating an incorrect housing need figure for the District.
The Government’s affordability ratio shows the relationship between local house prices and jobs available in that locality. However, this does not accurately reflect the reality of Districts such as Bromsgrove, where many people commute into major cities where there are higher paying jobs, which puts upward pressure on Bromsgrove house prices and makes the local income figure artificially low, both of which incorrectly drive up our housing allocation.
Bromsgrove District Council and Bradley are completely opposed to the Government increasing the flawed affordability multiplier from 0.25% to 0.6%. Their assessment shows that this will directly result in thousands more homes being built in high quality green belt in the District, when there is not a sufficient local need for this to happen. The effect of this change will in fact be to accelerate development in the very places that the green belt was established to protect.
Bradley is arguing that there should be a way for local authorities to demonstrate that the affordability criteria do not adequately indicate housing demand within the local authority and thus be able to produce an alternative figure for which their housing numbers are based, especially as these targets are mandatory.
Bradley has also warned the Government is deprioritising the need for beautiful design codes.
In the Government’s new proposals, they have removed references to ‘beauty’ and ‘beautiful.’ By removing the specific references to beauty, Bradley believes this will consequently lead to worse development.
As Leader of neighbouring Wychavon District Council, Bradley worked with Create Streets to produce the council’s design code. This code supported the creation of high quality, beautiful and sustainable buildings and places across the District. By creating a detailed and area specific local design code, the design code led to better development that was supported by a wider proportion of the public.
Bradley said:
“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 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.”
