Council to host webinar on housing targets

Wiltshire Council's leader, Richard Clewer, wants more people to understand the government's housing targets

A council is hosting a webinar about the government's proposed housing targets, after the authority's leader said he was "livid" about them.

Plans published on 30 July show an 81% increase in the number of homes expected to be built in Wiltshire Council's area, up to 3,500 per year.

The council's Conservative leader, Richard Clewer, said earlier this week that this was the equivalent of building "another Salisbury" over the next 15 years.

The council's session on 14 August will include a question and answer session for residents.

"If the changes progress in the form that they are proposed, it would mean a significant increase in the number of homes that have to be built," said Mr Clewer.

He added: "The changes also propose the abolition of the four-year Housing Land Supply introduced by the previous government, reverting back to a five-year Housing Land Supply, which may affect our ability to refuse inappropriate speculative housing applications.

"I'd urge anyone with an interest in the future of planning developments in our county to sign up for our webinar to find out more and respond to the consultation."

Changes to the National Planning Policy Framework would mean the annual national housing target would be increased from 300,000 homes to just over 370,000, and the rules will require 50% of new housing to be affordable “with a focus on social rent”, explained housing secretary Angela Rayner.

She also laid out plans to make it easier to build on low-quality green belt land that will be reclassified as "grey belt".

A spokesperson from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government previously said: "Wiltshire’s target has been set objectively and is in line with local housing need."

The government's consultation closes at 23:45 BST on 24 September.