Local plan housing targets 7% lower than Regional Strategy targets, research shows

The report (16-page / 6.51MB) said that the combined annual housing target for England based on figures set out in plans by individual local authorities is 173,000 in 2013. This is 7% lower than the 185,000 annual target set out in Regional Strategies, which have now been abolished.

It said that just under a quarter of local authorities have maintained the same figure for housing delivery in relation to the targets set out in the Regional Strategies.

The report noted that the figures could mean a shortfall of around 50,000 each year when compared with the Department for Communities and Local Government's forecasts published in April, which estimated that an average of 221,000 new households will form each year over the next decade.

Among local authorities which have changed their housing targets in the last year, the report found an average increase in targets of 6%. It said that this was the first time that the balance of those authorities making changes had been positive rather than reflecting further cuts.

The report estimated that local authorities in the North East and the North West had increased their housing targets in relation to the Regional Strategies, with respective increases of 8.8% and 2.4%. However, it said that all other regions showed reductions, with the greatest cuts found in the Midlands and the South East, where both targets had been cut by just under 14%.

"We appear to be in a contradictory position whereby those English regions where it is perhaps the most difficult to undertake viable new housing development, and which have been hardest hit by falling prices, are those that are the most encouraging of new development and have raised targets accordingly," the report said.

"By contrast, the region which has seen the strongest upward pressure on prices, and is arguably the most viable in development terms, is also the one which on average appears least inclined to promote new housing," it added.

The report recommended that the Government should introduce an obligation on local authorities which meet their housing targets ahead of time to bring forward the next phase of development

"We anticipate that many local authorities will hit their housing targets ahead of their five year plans and it is vital that they begin looking at resetting their targets to ensure that development and momentum within the housing market does not stall," the report said. "The Government needs to implement regulation across local authorities to ensure they are revising their targets upwards once that demand for sites from house builders is evident."