By Jason Lewis, Local Democracy Reporter

Planning reform proposals announced by government have been welcomed by the leader of Southampton City Council – while the city’s housing target is expected to drop.

 

Housing secretary Angela Rayner detailed major changes to the planning system this week, with the aim that 1.5 million new homes will be built over the next five years.

The proposals include reintroducing mandatory housing targets for councils across England just seven months after they were scrapped by the former Conservative government.

The overall target for England would increase from 300,000 to 370,000 homes a year, with a new method used to formulate each area’s figure.

Before they were scrapped in December, Southampton had a target of 1,473 a year. This included a 35 per cent uplift from the standard method as it was one of the 20 largest cities and urban centres in the country.

The method unveiled by Ms Rayner would produce a target of 1,295 additional homes a year in Southampton.

From 2020/21 to 2022/23, Southampton saw an average of 438 net additional homes per year.

Neighbouring authorities in Eastleigh and the New Forest are facing a 40 per cent and 100 per cent increase, respectively, to their housing delivery targets.

Other proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework and planning system include that land released from the green belt will have to meet the government’s ‘golden rules’.

These requirements say that development should deliver 50 per cent affordable homes, increase access to green spaces and provide infrastructure, such as schools and GP surgeries.

Brown field land should be the first port of call for development, the government said.

Councils will need to review their green belt land if needed to meet their target, with local authorities instructed to identify and prioritise ‘grey belt’ land – defined as areas on the edge of existing settlements or roads, old petrol stations and car parks.

The Labour leader of Southampton City Council, Cllr Lorna Fielker, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “The package of proposals announced to overhaul planning policy reverse the damaging set of changes made last December when the outgoing Conservative government scrapped mandatory housing targets and torpedoed housebuilding rates.

“We know we need new homes of every tenure in Southampton, changes which help get these delivered are welcome.”

Cllr Fielker said construction to build new homes nationally was down nearly 40 per cent in the first three months of the year compared with the year before.

She added: “The updated National Planning Policy Framework published this week also sets out a more strategic approach, prioritising poor-quality grey-belt land for building and introducing “golden rules” to ensure development works for local people and nature.”

Cllr Fielker said the local authority’s housing delivery plans aligned with the old target and will now change to the new one.

She said the council was keen to work with the Labour government to meet Southampton’s “high need” for housing.

Conservative group leader Cllr Peter Baillie said several years ago the local Labour group suggested 1,600 new homes a year were needed across the city.

Cllr Baillie said: “A couple of weeks ago at full council, the leader of the council was unable to say what new housing she would prioritise. Thus the result will be that over the coming years, Southampton will not get the housing it needs.

“Any new housing must be built with local agreement. Just because nationally and locally Labour have big majorities that doesn’t mean that democratic principles should be diminished. Sadly that seems to be the path Labour intend to take which is the path often used by dictatorships.”

Cllr Baillie said local Labour representatives had fought against any planning applications which reused green space but suggested that would be the result of the government’s plans.

He added: “The subject that Labour won’t discuss is that there is little point having housing targets if they don’t get a grip on immigration, which already they appear to have thrown in the towel.”