The leader of Bath & North East Somerset Council has written to the Deputy Prime Minister, saying the recently announced housing target for the district is ‘unrealistic’.
Councillor Kevin Guy set out six key issues to enable housing reform as part of his letter to Angela Rayner, who is also the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government.
In July the Government set out new mandatory housing targets which would see a significant uplift in the housing numbers that the local authority needs to plan for.
Targets will increase from the current 717 houses per annum to 1,466 per annum.
The purpose of the increased target is to address historic shortfalls in housing delivery and meet housing needs.
Councillor Guy said: “Local Authority housing targets and planning policy reform will not in themselves deliver the sustainable and affordable housing that we desperately need. There are six key issues we need to address.
“Firstly, we need to agree how our unique situation will be taken into account in advance of rewriting our Local Plan.
“We are asking that government facilitates timely conversations between the local authority, appropriate government departments/agencies and UNESCO to discuss the relationship between World Heritage Site status and planning for sustainable growth in the city.
“We also need to consider a more flexible regional cross boundary approach with our neighbouring authorities.
“We are also calling for more funding for affordable homes – more than 70 per cent of B&NES’ assessed housing need in the city of Bath is for those who cannot afford market housing.
“We must invest in the necessary infrastructure such as transport, utilities, flood defences, health and educational facilities.
“We are also concerned about wider planning reforms, here in B&NES we currently have nearly 2,100 homes with planning permission that are stalled. Unlocking delivery of them would require radical reforms.
“Finally, we need to build capacity. Relatively modest investment in local and regional skills and capacity up front is a vital precondition to increasing housing supply.
“We know residents understand the need for more high-quality affordable housing but on a realistic scale. Proposals with crude targets, that potentially facilitate unplanned development would be unforgivable.”
The council’s Economic Strategy, published earlier this year, sets an ambitious ten-year vision; recognising that the acute challenge of housing affordability dramatically curtails the area’s productivity and exacerbates labour shortages.
The council has already taken some steps to address the housing crisis, including collaborating with key anchor institutions to form a dedicated Housing Mission Delivery Board, chaired by the Chief Executive of Curo, the area’s largest Registered Provider.
Additionally, the council has established Aequus, its wholly owned housing development company, and B&NES Homes, its in-house Registered Provider, tasked to develop a range of housing solutions to meet local needs.
Councillor Guy added: “Over the last 13 years sound local planning policies have helped deliver nearly 10,000 new homes in B&NES and we want to ensure over the next ten years the right homes in the right places are built.
“We want to work with the government on becoming a trailblazer for new ideas and policy changes that will deliver high-quality, sustainable and affordable housing in our area.”
