Housebuilding targets to almost double

All councils in England are to be given new, mandatory housing targets by the new Labour government

Labour's proposed reforms to planning rules would see huge increases in housebuilding targets in Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

Under the new plans, councils would be expected to allow the delivery of 5,337 new homes every year. Previous targets totalled 2,706 new properties.

In July, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner set out plans to build 1.5 million new homes by 2029.

While the reforms have been welcomed by housing developers, local Conservative MPs and Liberal Democrat councillors have criticised "top-down" targets.

"It's a marked change... a change for the better," said Andy Faizey, a director at Lioncourt Strategic Land.

The Worcester-based developer is currently constructing 120 new homes on the edge of the village of Rushwick, just outside the city.

Forty per cent will be classed as affordable.

"We've got here now a government that recognises the UK economy is in a mess and that it needs to do something about it."

But as a veteran of the planning system, he warned the government would face challenges.

"Government will set its targets and that's great... but when you get down to a local level it's how local planning authorities and planning committees deal with those planning applications," he said.

Approval to build the homes in Rushwick only came after Lioncourt appealed the local council's decision.

Housing developer Andy Faizey welcomed Labour's proposals as a "change for the better"

Affordability is a problem in Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

In 2023, average house prices were about 10 times average earnings in much of the two counties.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, who is also the housing secretary, has told council leaders they have a "moral obligation to see more homes built".

Under Labour's proposals, which have gone out to consultation:

• Bromsgrove would be expected to deliver 704 new homes a year (an 82% increase on the current target)

• Herefordshire would be expected to deliver 1,375 (a 78% increase)

• Redditch would deliver 489 (a 242% increase)

• Wyre Forest would deliver 617 (a 192% increase)

• The three South Worcestershire councils of Malvern Hills, Wychavon and Worcester together would be expected to deliver 2,152 new homes a year (an increase of 80%)

Gemma Lawe recently moved into social housing in Pinvin

In the village of Pinvin, on the other side of Worcestershire, teaching assistant Gemma Lawe said she felt "lucky" for her new rented social housing.

A single mum, she had been renting privately in Essex, until she was handed a section 21 eviction by her landlord.

"We had two months to find somewhere... we would have been classified as homeless if I wouldn’t have made the decision to move home back to my family [in Worcestershire]."

After finding privately rented properties unaffordable in both counties, she joined the social housing waiting list last year.

"I think you have to build homes for people’s needs," she said.

Liberal Democrat district councillor Dan Boatright-Greene said the government's "arbitrary" targets did not match local need

Not everyone thinks the new housebuilding targets will solve a shortage of affordable housing.

On the same road as Ms Lawe's new home in Pinvin, 13 socially rented properties remain unfinished.

Worked stopped when the site's builder went into financial difficulty.

The estate's owner, housing association Rooftop, confirmed a search for a new contractor was under way.

But Dan Boatright-Greene, the local Liberal Democrat district councillor, said the delay was symptomatic of wider problems in the housing sector.

'Arbitrary numbers'

"We've got a massive shortage of social housing... in the Pershore area we’ve got 1,000 families who are sat on the register... and we’ve got half-finished homes," he said.

He said new "arbitrary" targets were not a priority, and argued councils should be handed more powers to build their own affordable housing.

"We’ve got thousands of new homes that we have built - almost all of them are owned.

"We have a huge number of people who want to rent, who are looking for social houses. Those are the houses we need to build first."